As a parent of a five year old daughter, I took interest in this recent article from CBS News which notes that according to statistics from 2002 (the latest year in which numbers are available), 10 percent of all kids between two and five are considered overweight, (up from seven percent in 2000). As the article describes,

The prevalence of obesity among adults is well-known, with an increase of 75 percent since 1991. So is the problem with school-age children, reaffirmed by new statistics showing that nearly 4 million children ages 6 to 11 and 5.3 million young people ages 12 to 19 were overweight or obese in 2002.

But the findings among preschoolers are a strong indication that kids’ weight problems are beginning even earlier. . . Experts blame the prevalence of junk food marketed to children, too much TV, and the decline in the number of families who sit down together to eat.

Of all the things that parents and adults can pass onto their children, habits leading to obesity should not be one of them. At the same time, we are careful not to impress upon our own child that her entire happiness needs to center around her appearance and not being considered “fat.” In the end, what we emphasize is the need to be healthy and usually, being healthy is directly correlated with not being fat.