Rodale Inc.'s PREVENTION Magazine Releases Key Findings From 2003 Childhood Health Survey Investigating Parent and Child Attitud
28 October 2003 - 4:57AM
PR Newswire (US)
Rodale Inc.'s PREVENTION Magazine Releases Key Findings From 2003
Childhood Health Survey Investigating Parent and Child Attitudes
Toward Obesity Parents Don't Recognize Obesity or the Social Impact
on Kids Lives NEW YORK, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Rodale Inc.'s
PREVENTION Magazine, the largest health magazine in the nation, has
announced findings from its comprehensive 2003 Childhood Health
Survey. Among its topics the survey includes evaluating the
awareness level and prevailing perceptions about obesity among
obese children and their parents. This initiative is one part of an
overall Rodale campaign that includes a Rodale collaboration with
ABC News on "Fat Like Me," a primetime special hosted by Meredith
Vieira, airing Monday, October 27 at 8 p.m. EST. Rodale properties
informed the special with this survey as well as additional
research and health information on the topic. "The Center for
Disease Control (CDC) has called childhood obesity an epidemic,"
said Rosemary Ellis, Editorial Director for PREVENTION. "We
conducted this survey because unlike so many diseases and
illnesses, obesity is preventable. Throughout the next year, we
will be providing our readers with important insights and direction
to help recognize it and combat it." The November issue of
PREVENTION, on newsstands now, includes Vieira on the cover as well
a feature package entitled, "Feeding Lessons" that explores subtle
but significant ways parents can help their children develop
lifelong healthy eating habits. Rodale has executed an editorial
"roadblock" across its entire group of magazines, including such
titles as MEN'S HEALTH, RUNNERS WORLD, and ORGANIC STYLE to address
this issue. In addition, Rodale has created a national public
relations awareness campaign that not only draws attention to the
disease, but also provides tools and strategies to beat it. "Key
findings from the survey indicate that many parents of obese
children don't recognize their child as obese, and believe that
their children's diet is healthy. For those who do see the problem,
the tendency is to blame genetics," adds Ellis. "Beyond the health
ramifications, sadly, these children are socially ostracized --
they are teased at school and isolated from their peers. While
parents want their kids to confide in them, the reality is that
they are confiding in their parents because they have fewer friends
to rely on. These findings have inspired us to provide parents with
even more information to help them transition their families to a
healthier way of living." * Almost half (46%) of parents of an
obese child (as classified by height and weight that the parents
themselves report) do not believe that any of their children is
obese. * A third (30%) of parents of an obese child feel that the
obese child's diet either is healthy enough or as healthy as it
could possibly be, and almost half (45%) of obese children think
likewise. * Almost half (46%) of parents of an obese child
(compared to those within range, 36%) are significantly more likely
to agree that good health is mostly determined by people's genes
and not by things like diet, exercise and drinking habits. * Obese
children are (compared to children within the range) ... -- more
likely to report that children at their school are teased about
their weight (55%) and more likely to report that they themselves
were teased (25%) -- when bothered, more likely to confide in a
parent (52% vs. 41%) and significantly less likely to confide in a
friend (24% vs. 38%) The 2003 PREVENTION Child Healthcare Survey is
based on a nationally representative sample of 886 parents and 473
children (ages 10-17) conducted spring/summer 2003 by Princeton
Survey Research Associates / Braun Research. The margin of sampling
error is +/- 3.8 points for the parent sample and +/- 5.5 points
for the children sample and the definitions for obesity are based
on the Center for Disease Control parameters. About PREVENTION
Magazine PREVENTION magazine, America's leading health magazine,
has been providing readers with the most current information on
health, fitness, nutrition, and healthy, active lifestyles since
1950. It is the nation's most authoritative, trustworthy, and
innovative source for practical health information. In addition to
reaching 10 million readers every month, the magazine publishes 13
special interest titles yearly; publishes international editions in
Finland, Poland, and 22 Latin American countries; conducts national
surveys examining important health issues; and hosts a highly
acclaimed Web site, prevention.com. Published 12 times a year,
PREVENTION magazine is published by Rodale Inc. About Rodale Inc.
For more than 60 years, Rodale has been a leading publisher of
information on healthy, active lifestyles. With a mission to
inspire and enable people to improve their lives and the world
around them, Rodale reaches more than 30 million people every month
through its magazines, books, Web sites and other media. Rodale
properties include such well-known magazines as Prevention, Men's
Health, Organic Style, Organic Gardening, Runner's World,
Backpacker, Bicycling, Mountain Bike and Rodale's Scuba Diving. The
largest independent bookseller in America, Rodale publishes nearly
100 new book titles each year in the categories of health, fitness,
environmental issues, sports, narrative non-fiction, biography,
memoir, parenting, inspiration, home arts and more and maintains a
strong backlist of more than 500 book titles. Recent Rodale New
York Times Bestsellers include, Dr. Shapiro's Picture Perfect
Weight Loss, 8 Minutes in the Morning, The Wrinkle Cure and the No.
1 bestseller The South Beach Diet. DATASOURCE: Rodale Inc. CONTACT:
Robin Shallow of Rodale Inc., +1-212-573-0474, or Web site:
http://www.prevention.com/
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