Battling bulge? Enlist all the family

INDIANAPOLIS — Susan Hedrick and her 18-year-old daughter are turning the tide on years of fast food and sedentary living. In a bid to shed a combined 180 pounds, they have been eating healthier and taking long walks this summer.

And they are doing it together — something health and diet experts believe is a key to combating the nation's growing obesity epidemic, particularly among kids.

Research suggests healthy-eating, active parents often pass their habits onto their kids, just as sedentary parents do, said Edward Laskowski, co-director of the Sports Medicine Center at the Mayo Clinic.

Laskowski suggests overweight parents serious about making themselves and their kids healthier start by holding a family meeting.

"You've got to say, 'Hey kids, you know we've been doing the wrong thing here. Mom and Dad are wrong too, and we've got to lose some weight. We don't want you to make the mistakes we've made,' " he said.

Family bike rides, walks, hikes or tennis are ways to get the whole family burning calories. And making sure everyone sits down together for a healthy dinnertime meal is another important step, he said.

Since the early 1970s, the percentage of American children and adolescents defined as overweight has more than doubled, to about 15 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Three out of four overweight teenagers remain overweight into adulthood. And with two-thirds of American adults now overweight, they face an increased risk of diabetes, heart disease and other illnesses.

Barbara Dennison, an associate professor of clinical pediatrics at Columbia University, said so many children are now overweight or obese that it has changed parents' frame of reference. She said parents — particularly those who are obese — often do not realize their child is overweight.

Two years ago, in interviews with 1,180 parents of overweight children, Dennison found that only about 25 percent of those parents realized their child had a weight problem.

Her research also found that parents of overweight children treat mealtime differently than parents of healthy children, often allowing the child to choose the meal — typically something less nutritious. Some parents even used sweets to encourage their child to finish a meal.

With America's youth getting fat on calorie-packed fast foods and snacks and spending too much time in front of the TV or the computer, Dennison said parents need to practice what they preach.