Fifth of Parents ‘Not Concerned’ About Overweight Children

Aug. 22, 2011 - PRLog -- As part of ongoing research into the parenting habits of Britons, the UK’s leading discount website, http://www.MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, has conducted a study of 1,192 parents of children under the age of 4; in a bid to discover more about their attitudes towards their children’s health.

The study, conducted by http://www.MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, found that almost a third, 31%, of the parents taking part admitted that they thought that their child was ‘overweight’.

In contrast, 17% of the parents taking part stated that their child was ‘underweight’. These respondents were subsequently asked to explain why they thought this was the case, with the majority, 58%, claiming it was due to their child being a ‘fussy eater’.  

The study by http://www.MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, found the respondents who admitted that their child was ‘overweight’ were asked if they were concerned about their child’s weight. The study found that more than a fifth, 22%, weren’t concerned about their child being overweight, whilst 51% admitted to feeling concerned.  The remaining 27% were ‘unsure’ about how they felt.

The respondents that admitted to not being concerned about their child being overweight were subsequently asked why they felt this way, to which over half,  48%, said that they simply ‘blamed puppy fat’.  A further 13% claimed that their child received ‘plenty of exercise’, whilst 26% said it was in their child’s ‘genes’ to be overweight.

When the parents who admitted to believing their child was ‘overweight’ were asked by http://www.MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, if they had placed their child on a diet, 7% said ‘yes’. The remaining 93% said that they hadn’t ever put their child on a diet plan.

Mark Pearson, Chairman of http://www.MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, said the following:      

“It was surprising to see that a quarter of the parents who believe that they have overweight children simply put it down to their genes. Whilst this could be a possibility, parents have to bear in mind that children aged four or under shouldn’t be overweight;  and diet and exercise is important for their child to develop properly.”

He continued:

“Whilst children as young as this regularly do grow out of their ‘puppy fat;’ there is no harm in keeping an eye on your child’s weight, as it reduces the risk of your child become unhealthy. As long as your child eats healthily and gets plenty of time to run around and play though, they should be happy and healthy.”

ENDS

LINK: http://www.MyVoucherCodes.co.uk.  

For more information please contact Charlotte Horsfall of 10 Yetis Public Relations on charlotte@10yetis.co.uk or 01452348211.


Editor’s Notes

Mark Pearson, Chairman of MyVoucherCodes.co.uk is a regular media contributor regarding online shopping and the credit crunch. At 29, his personal worth is more than £30 million.

Mark was previously a trainee chef working for Gordon Ramsay at Claridges, London.

MyVoucherCodes has had sales exceeding £481m in the last year.

Consumer savings on online shopping via MyVoucherCodes.co.uk up from £28m in 2008 to £52m in 2009.

MyVoucherCodes is the UK’s most popular discount site