Study: Kids' Weight a Major Concern

Tuesday, January 9th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

CHICAGO (AP) â€” Influenced by their parents and the media, a disturbing number of children and teen-agers are worrying about their weight in hopes of looking model-thin or bodybuilder buff, a study says.

A second study linked being overweight with low self-esteem in girls as young as 5, while a third suggests that watching TV at mealtime may contribute to children's unhealthy eating habits. A fourth study found that fewer than one-third of U.S. programs that train pediatricians teach about the effect of negative media messages on children's health.

The reports, published in the January issue of the journal Pediatrics, come amid growing concern about the number of overweight youngsters â€” 25 percent and rising by some estimates.

The first study, from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, is based on questionnaires given to 12,057 children ages 9 to 14 in 1996 and 1997. Weight concerns were found in children who weren't overweight.

In the first year, 9 percent of the girls and 4 percent of the boys had extreme weight concerns, such as worries over gaining 2 pounds. An additional 6 percent of girls and 2 percent of boys became highly weight-conscious during the study. Constant dieting was uncommon â€” reported initially by 2 percent of the girls and 1 percent of boys â€” but the numbers doubled in 1997.

Girls have been encouraged ``to form unrealistically thin body ideals'' by the mass media, said Alison E. Field, who led the study. A similar message about sculpted male bodies ``is taking its toll on boys, making them more susceptible to being overly concerned about weight,'' she said.

The responses suggested that parents who were dieters or valued leanness strongly influenced their children. In addition, youngsters who reported spending lots of time trying to emulate popular media figures were more prone to chronic dieting and extreme weight concerns.

Another study suggests that even very young children are aware of society's fixation on thinness. The study of 197 5-year-old girls included 48 who were overweight. Those who were overweight reported significantly lower body self-esteem than those of normal weight.

Such girls may be prone to early dieting, which could impede their growth, said the study's authors Kirsten Krahnstoever Davison and Leann Lipps Birch of Pennsylvania State University.

While parents should not ignore a child's weight problem, they should avoid negative messages and seek constructive solutions, the authors said.

One solution might be turning off the television during meals, suggests a third study, from the School of Nutrition, Science and Policy at Tufts University. It found that children whose families routinely watched TV at mealtime ate more salty snack foods and sodas, and fewer fruits and vegetables than those who turned the televisions off.

Participants included 91 Washington, D.C.-area families with children age 10 on average. The findings suggest that television ads and shows offer an unrealistic view of what constitutes a normal diet, though other factors such as parents' education level also may play a role, said researchers.

The fourth study found that fewer than one-third of U.S. pediatric residency programs teach about the effect of media exposure on children's health. The results were based on responses from 204 of the 209 pediatric residency programs nationwide accredited for the academic year 1999-2000.

Ninety-six programs â€” 47 percent â€” encouraged residents to discuss media use with patients and parents, but just 58 â€” 28.4 percent â€” offered formal education regarding the risks posed by television, movies, the Internet and video games.

``Just as pediatricians have included health risk avoidance using nonmedical tools such as bicycle helmets and seat belts, media effects need to be included as part of the health maintenance visit,'' said the authors, Drs. Michael Rich of Harvard Medical School and Miriam Bar-on of Chicago's Loyola University.

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