Healthy parents, healthy kids
December 5, 2012
PARENTS are sending mixed
signals to their children by not
‘walking the talk’ when it comes to
living a healthy lifestyle.
The news comes from the latest
Bupa Health Survey 2012, which
took into account the responses of
14,528 respondents from 13
countries, including Australia,
between March and May this year.
The results of the survey showed
that seven in 10 Australian parents
who are overweight or obese
believe that they are the top source
for their children’s education about
living a healthy lifestyle.
Speaking at a media conference to
launch the results, Bupa Australia,
Chief Medical Officer, Dr Paul Bates
said “It’s easy to know the right
thing to do, but it’s harder to do the
right thing”.
“We need to ensure that parents
are properly equipped to pass along
the right messages so that children
lead healthier lifestyles and that
parents feel comfortable enough to
lead by example,” he added.
Interestingly, not having a healthy
diet and not exercising enough
outranked accidents or disease and
illness, as the main concerns that
parents have for their children.
These concerns are juxtaposed
with other data in the survey which
revealed that, alarmingly, one in 10
parents don’t speak to their
children about health at all, and
instead rely on other family
members, schools, the internet and
media to fill in the gaps.
Despite this, 63% reported
discussing healthy eating with their
kids, and 54% talked to their
children about the importance of
exercise.
“Quite a lot of parents don’t realise
how unhealthy they are, so they
need to role model and bring the
whole family into the equation,”
said social analyst Imogen Randell.
“The best thing is to make a
family solution rather than a diet as
such, make the switch over in a
subtle way,” Dr Bates added.
On a positive note, 49% of
parents told survey researchers
that they talk to their children
about their emotions, which is a
massive generational shift, as only
19% said that their parents talked
to them about their emotional
health when they were growing up.
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