Obese Children - And Their Parents - Underestimate Their Weight

By Dr. Brian McDonough, Medical Editor

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Childhood obesity is reaching epidemic proportions in the United States.

Just consider this fact; in the past 30 years the number of obese children has tripled in our country. A third of children and adolescents in the US are overweight or obese.

We recently learned that most overweight kids think they are at a normal weight and a follow up report measured some numbers and found that 27.3% of American children and adolescents underestimate their weight status.

There are consequences.

Overweight and obese teens who underestimated their weight were nearly four times less likely to attempt weight loss than those who accurately estimated their weight.

The denial does not stop at the children. Perhaps equally disturbing is the fact that parents were equally likely to underestimate their child's weight.