What are parents of obese children concerned about in their children?

We retrospectively examined the issues that concern parents of obese children to determine the most effective means of motivating them to seek treatment for obesity in their children. Children with an obesity index > 40%, aged six to 12 years, were screened in Kagoshima City in 1992. Parents were notified if their children needed an evaluation that included a family history and measurements of the blood pressure, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, atherogenic index (ASI), triglycerides, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Parents were informed of the results of the evaluation and invited to attend a lecture on the treatment of obesity in children. A total of 378 obese children were evaluated. However, the parents of only 39 children attended the lecture. Children whose parents attended had higher mean total levels of cholesterol (190 ± 25 vs 175 ± 28, P < 0.01) and ASI values (3.2 ± 0.9 vs 2.7 ± 0.9, P < 0.02) than those whose parents did not attend. There were no significant differences in other factors. Only 4.2% of parents whose children showed no abnormal values, except for obesity, attended the lecture, compared with 20.3% (P< 0.01) or 16.9% (P< 0.05) of parents whose children had abnormal levels of cholesterol or abnormal ASI. Parents may be more concerned about hypercholesterolemia or arteriosclerosis than obesity per se. We should perhaps use the total cholesterol or ASI values, not just the severity of obesity, to motivate parents to enter their children into treatment programs for obesity.