The AP reports that doctors who care for children “are supposed to track if youngsters are putting on too many pounds,” but a study published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine “found less than a quarter of parents of overweight children recall the doctor ever saying there was a problem.”
“From 1999 to 2008, 4,985 parents of children age two to 15 who had a body mass index in the 85th percentile or higher were asked if they had ever been told by a physician or health professional that their child was overweight,” the Los Angeles Times “Booster Shots” blog reports.
“Overall, 22.4% of parents reported they’d been told” that their child had a weight problem.
“Among parents of very obese kids, 58% said they got a heads up from a doctor about their child’s weight,” the study found. MedPage Today reports that the National Institutes of Health funded the study.
You can find out if your child is obese or overweight or not by collecting his or her age, height, and weight and entering the data on this CDC Web site.
And, if your child is overweight or obese, how can you help him or her? I describe my clinically-tested program in my Amazon.com Best Selling book, SuperSized Kids: How to protect your child from the obesity threat.

Signed copies are on clearance sale now, while supplies last, at my Web site for $2.99 (plus shipping). That’s a 78% savings from the retail price of $13.99. Hurry, supplies are limited.