Childhood obesity and early prevention of cardiovascular disease: Iranian families act too late

This study described overweight/obese children and adolescents seeking weight loss treatment regarding their age, gender, severity of obesity and maternal education in Rasht city, northern Iran. Data on 1465 overweight/obese children and adolescents aged 2–18 years engaged in weight loss program were analyzed in this study. These data included age, sex, weight, height, self-reported parental weight and height, history of dieting, and motherʹs level of education. There were more overweight/obese girls engaged in weight loss program than overweight/obese boys (71.2% vs. 28.8% p < 0.0001). These data showed that only 18.2% of the overweight/obese children and adolescents were from families with low maternal education. These data suggest that parents of overweight/obese children and adolescents from low social level, boys and young children across all maternal educational levels should be warned against the risk of obesity.