Parents, kids don't perceive obesity as a health problem.

Most 'tweens--that is, children ages 8-12--give little thought to maintaining a healthy weight. Rather than recognizing its immediate benefits or its long-term importance for their health, they relate their weight to athletic performance and overall appearance, according to a study recently published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

"Neither kids nor their parents see obesity as a health issue," says lead author Susan Borra, director of nutrition for the International Food Information Council Foundation. "Parents tend to characterize overweight as a social issue, worrying about how it will affect their child's self-esteem and acceptance by peers."

These findings should help parks and recreation programmers market their health-promotion programs. Remember: the primary reason people sign up for programs is that they're fun; secondary concerns are health, cost and convenience. Put another way, marketing for your health-promotion programs may be more successful if you say, "Get ready for bathing suit weather" instead of "Get healthy,"

Borra says the study is the first attempt to gauge parents' and children's attitudes toward childhood obesity. Key findings include:

* Many children equate being healthy with following "rules," bringing to mind negative images of "mandatory" fruits and vegetables or being deprived of their favorite foods.

* Many overweight kids say they don't have much opportunity for physical activity because they tend to drop out of organized sports.

* Parents and children stressed the importance of encouragement and "small victories" as critical components of a successful weight-management program.

"Parents and children said they were stumped as to what to do to address childhood overweight," notes Borra. "Based on this feedback and our other research findings, we developed Kidnetic.com."

Kidnetic.com is a healthy eating and active living Web site for parents and kids to use as a tool to prevent childhood overweight. The site addresses the physical activity and nutrition aspects of weight management.

NRPA is a partner in the site because it's a great resource for communities to get kids active, have fun and learn. Any agency that provides kids access to computers should have a link to www.kidnetic.com.