`It's Not My Fault!' `We Need Help!' Cry Parents of Overweight Children.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

GREENWICH, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 6, 2003

New NFO WorldGroup study reveals 30% of American parents report

overweight or obese children.

Parents of overweight kids are less likely to provide healthy food

choices or set good eating example, and are starting to blame

manufacturers.

Are the parents of overweight children pulling their own weight to combat children's obesity, are they shifting the weight of responsibility to others, and do they know where to turn for help?

Has childhood obesity reached the "tipping point" as a top concern for moms and dads across America? These are the key questions addressed in NFO WorldGroup's benchmark study of parental perceptions of overweight children and childhood obesity. NFO WorldGroup is one of the world's leading providers of research-based marketing information and counsel and a leader in predicting and identifying consumer trends.

Thirty percent (30%) of America's households, through their own self-assessments, have children/teenagers who are overweight, according to the new NFO study, which included interviews with more than 1,500 parents. However, compared to parents of normal weight children, the parents of overweight children are more likely to claim the source of their children's weight problem is not at home, but rather lies with food manufacturers, schools and fast food outlets. This varies from parents of normal weight children, who report that the patterns and behaviors they establish at home play a significant role in weight control.

Overall, parents of overweight children feel they are doing everything possible to ensure healthy food choices at home and promote participation in physical activities, but they acknowledge that their efforts are weak when advocating for healthy food choices at school. In addition, almost half of the parents with overweight children blame available food choices for their children's weight problems. Over one third of those parents with overweight children cite advertising that encourages unhealthy eating in kids as an issue, while less than a quarter of parents of normal weight children pointed to this problem.

Parents with normal weight children also see themselves as making conscious efforts to set good examples through healthy eating, providing healthy food choices at home and ensuring that their children are physically active. Seventy-six percent (76%) of parents with normal weight children indicate that they are doing all they can with their own eating habits to be good role models, compared to 63% of parents with overweight kids.

Parental opinion varies significantly about different categories of food products when parents of overweight children evaluate the commitment of the food industry to provide healthy alternatives. Only 22% of parents with overweight children feel manufacturers of prepackaged meals and lunch kits are doing enough. About one out of three parents of overweight children say producers of carbonated drinks (31%) and salty snacks (32%) show serious commitment to developing healthy alternatives, with cookie companies (40%) and ice cream makers (44%) ranking higher.

In contrast, parents of overweight children are pleased with the progress made in the milk, yogurt, and cheese categories, with between 2/3 and 3/4 of the parents believing that these food manufacturers are making an effort to do all they can to create healthy alternatives. "The presence of an overweight child really makes a difference in the parents' attitudes toward childhood obesity," noted Jennifer Park, Senior Vice President, NFO WorldGroup. "While a large proportion of parents blame the foods themselves for their children's weight issues, the results of the study show that parents of normal weight children make more effort to control their children's eating habits, or at least take credit for keeping their children in healthy weight ranges.

"More than anything, the findings of the study are a cry for help, information and alternatives by parents coming to terms with the challenges of childhood obesity," Park added. "Food manufacturers should take note because they potentially could face a large backlash, especially since parents of overweight children are ambiguous and confused about the causes and their own degree of personal responsibility for their overweight children. Manufacturers, therefore, would be wise to learn more about the family dynamics in households with overweight children and the ways that they might educate these parents, who would likely welcome the guidance."

The study also reveals that while the issue of childhood obesity is growing in intensity, there is a major difference between the parents with and without overweight children when it comes to the importance of the issue compared to other parental concerns. For parents with no overweight children, obesity and weight control ranks the lowest (35%) in parental concern out of eleven child/teen issues, with safety (88%), violence (76%), and drugs and alcohol (74%) taking precedence.

However, for parents of overweight children, childhood obesity shoots to the top of the list. Obesity and weight control ranks second (80%), behind safety away from home (87%) but ahead of violence (79%) and drugs and alcohol (78%).

"Parents, the food industry, and American society as a whole are at a critical crossroads in understanding and addressing the challenges of childhood obesity. Parents who do not see their children as overweight today still have not fully grasped the gravity of childhood obesity. Statistically, obesity is more likely to cause problems for their children than are safety and violence, and it has a much greater impact on their children's overall well being. In contrast, parents who recognize the problem of weight control in their children are becoming very aware but still do not know how to take positive, proactive action. This represents a tremendous opportunity for food manufacturers to become part of the solution instead of the problem, develop new and innovative product lines, and build customer loyalty and satisfaction that will pay off at the checkout counter." Park continued.

This study, which was fielded using the NFO Interactive Panel with over 800,000 households represented, is based on responses from more than 1,500 households with children. The study was conducted in May and June 2003, and was weighted to be representative of U.S. households based on key Census demographics. NFO WorldGroup also conducts the monthly surveys for The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index.

About NFO WorldGroup

NFO WorldGroup is one of the world's leading providers of research-based marketing information and counsel. "Marketing minds specializing in research" (TM), NFO has facilitated Fortune 500 clients' business decisions for more than 50 years by providing in-depth knowledge and understanding of consumers and brands through research. Their services include comprehensive counsel on market evaluation, product development, brand management, customer satisfaction, pricing, distribution and advertising effectiveness. NFO is a worldwide leader in Internet-based research and maintains one of the world's largest Interactive panel communities NFO is one of the TNS group of companies (LSE: TNN). Visit NFO WorldGroup on the web (www.nfow.com).

                 Parents with Overweight Kids:                 Percent
           NFO Childhood Obesity Study At a Glance:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Percentage of American households reporting at least one
 overweight child or teen                                          30%
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Parental concerns
       --  Safety away from home                                   87%
       --  Obesity/weight control                                  80%
       --  Violence                                                79%
       --  Drugs and alcohol                                       78%
       --  Bullying at school                                      70%
       --  Tooth decay                                             70%
       --  Negative influences on the Internet                     70%
       --  Junk food                                               68%
       --  Sexual promiscuity                                      67%
       --  Watching too much television                            63%
       --  Excessive use of computer/video games                   57%
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Top 5 food factors contributing to childhood obesity
         --  Overall consumption of fatty foods                    92%
         --  Overall consumption of snack foods                    92%
         --  Overall consumption of fast foods                     92%
         --  Overall consumption of sweetened beverages            90%
         --  Overall consumption of carbonated beverages           89%
Top 5 lifestyle factors contributing to childhood obesity
         --  Overall sedentary lifestyles of American families     88%
         --  Parents poor eating habits                            87%
         --  Overall food consumption/portion sizes                86%
         --  Unsupervised access to junk foods                     83%
         --  Snacking in between meals                             81%
Bottom 5 food lifestyle factors contributing to childhood
 obesity
         --  Declining family values                               53%
         --  Parents not home much to supervise eating             59%
         --  Infrequent participation in after-school              64%
             activities
         --  Lack of knowledge about nutrition                     67%
         --  Kids eating fewer and fewer meals at home             67%
----------------------------------------------------------------------
       --  Teach/educate my children about nutrition/healthy
           eating                                                  80%
       --  Ensure there are healthy food choices available at home 87%
       --  Ensure my children are physically active                79%
       --  Set a good example for healthy eating with my own
           eating habits                                           63%
       --  Advocate for healthy food choices at school             46%
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Parents agree "food manufacturers are doing all they can to
 provide healthy alternatives."
Top 5 categories: "Doing all they can"
       --  Milk                                                    84%
       --  Yogurt/yogurt novelties                                 79%
       --  Cheese                                                  71%
       --  Fruit juices                                            69%
       --  Bread                                                   69%
Bottom 5 categories: "Doing all they can"
       --  Prepackaged meals/lunch kits                            22%
       --  Carbonated soft drinks                                  31%
       --  Salty snacks                                            32%
       --  Cookies/crackers                                        40%
       --  Ice cream novelties                                     44%
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