The Yangtze Evening News reports that among all fat children, 78 percent of children have a parent who is fat and for 80 percent of fat children, their parents are inactive.

The Nanjing Gulou Hospital opened a course for fat kids in summer vacation. During the course, experts found that children's fatness was closely linked with their parents'  bad living habits. Parents might contribute to their children's overweight.

The Zhongde Rehabilitation Center of the Nanjing Gulou Hospital launched three courses for fat children between July and August. Twenty-five fat children attended the course to try to lose weight. The average age of these children was 13, and their average weight was 72 kilograms, with the heaviest one being 106 kilograms.

Lu Lijuan, a doctor responsible for offering treatment to fat children, said before the children started to lose weight, she had managed to know about their eating psychology, eating behaviors, and eating contents. She found that among the 25 fat children, 80 percent liked carbonated soft drinks; 80 percent of them ate much food and east very fast. 75 percent of them ate western fast food; 65 percent of them didn't like to eat vegetables and 60 percent of them often skipped breakfast.

Experts have also found that children's fatness are closely linked with their parents'bad living habits. An investigation shows that 78 percent of fat children have a parent who is also fat, 80 percent of fat children's parents are inactive, and 65 percent of fat children became fat when they were still babies.

Lu told our reporter that during the rehabilitation period, experts required children to change their eating habits. They should drink some soup first, then eat some vegetables, some rice and finally some meat. Lu said that when children were on a diet, parents should set a good example. She suggested that the whole family should participate in the program together, sticking to a balance diet, and do some regular exercises. In this way, children can keep their weight under control.

(China News Service August 26, 2006)