A team from University College London found that 98 per cent of parents of overweight children didn't realise their child was overweight.
The report, Parental Perceptions of Overweight in 3-5 Year Olds, also found that only 1.9 per cent of parents of overweight children and 17.1 per cent of parents of obese children described their child as overweight.
David Haslam, chair of the National Obesity Forum, said the findings were very worrying. "Without recognition of the problem, there is no motivation to do anything about it," he said. Rosemary McQuarrie, professional officer for the Community Practitioners' and Health Visitors' Association, said that the only way to cut obesity rates was to educate people.
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