Is Your Child Overweight? You Probably Don't Know--and Aren't Helping

Yet another sign that parents wear rose-tinted glasses: more than 40 percent of those with an overweight child think their kid is actually a healthy weight. Slashfood highlights a recent study in the journal Academic Pediatrics that explains why, when it comes to obesity, Mom and Dad may be just as bad for Junior as milkshakes:

"Parents don't recognize weight problems or don't know how to make things better," Dr. Eliana Perris, lead author of the study and assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told Science Daily. "Even if they do, there are often barriers to healthier eating or more activity for these families."

Childhood obesity rates have tripled over the last 30 years, and today, nearly one in three kids is obese. The causes are pretty straightforward: a dramatic spike in calorie consumption (on average we consume 31 percent more calories than 40 years ago) combined with an equally dramatic drop in physical activity (kids spend an average of 7.5 hours per day sitting in front of TVs and computers).

Read the full story at Slashfood.