Rodale Inc.'s PREVENTION Magazine Releases Key Findings From 2003 Childhood Health Survey Investigating Parent and Child Attitudes Toward Obesity Parents Don't Recognize Obesity or the Social Impact on Kids Lives NEW YORK, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Rodale Inc.'s PREVENTION Magazine, the largest health magazine in the nation, has announced findings from its comprehensive 2003 Childhood Health Survey. Among its topics the survey includes evaluating the awareness level and prevailing perceptions about obesity among obese children and their parents. This initiative is one part of an overall Rodale campaign that includes a Rodale collaboration with ABC News on "Fat Like Me," a primetime special hosted by Meredith Vieira, airing Monday, October 27 at 8 p.m. EST. Rodale properties informed the special with this survey as well as additional research and health information on the topic. "The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has called childhood obesity an epidemic," said Rosemary Ellis, Editorial Director for PREVENTION. "We conducted this survey because unlike so many diseases and illnesses, obesity is preventable. Throughout the next year, we will be providing our readers with important insights and direction to help recognize it and combat it." The November issue of PREVENTION, on newsstands now, includes Vieira on the cover as well a feature package entitled, "Feeding Lessons" that explores subtle but significant ways parents can help their children develop lifelong healthy eating habits. Rodale has executed an editorial "roadblock" across its entire group of magazines, including such titles as MEN'S HEALTH, RUNNERS WORLD, and ORGANIC STYLE to address this issue. In addition, Rodale has created a national public relations awareness campaign that not only draws attention to the disease, but also provides tools and strategies to beat it. "Key findings from the survey indicate that many parents of obese children don't recognize their child as obese, and believe that their children's diet is healthy. For those who do see the problem, the tendency is to blame genetics," adds Ellis. "Beyond the health ramifications, sadly, these children are socially ostracized -- they are teased at school and isolated from their peers. While parents want their kids to confide in them, the reality is that they are confiding in their parents because they have fewer friends to rely on. These findings have inspired us to provide parents with even more information to help them transition their families to a healthier way of living." * Almost half (46%) of parents of an obese child (as classified by height and weight that the parents themselves report) do not believe that any of their children is obese. * A third (30%) of parents of an obese child feel that the obese child's diet either is healthy enough or as healthy as it could possibly be, and almost half (45%) of obese children think likewise. * Almost half (46%) of parents of an obese child (compared to those within range, 36%) are significantly more likely to agree that good health is mostly determined by people's genes and not by things like diet, exercise and drinking habits. * Obese children are (compared to children within the range) ... -- more likely to report that children at their school are teased about their weight (55%) and more likely to report that they themselves were teased (25%) -- when bothered, more likely to confide in a parent (52% vs. 41%) and significantly less likely to confide in a friend (24% vs. 38%) The 2003 PREVENTION Child Healthcare Survey is based on a nationally representative sample of 886 parents and 473 children (ages 10-17) conducted spring/summer 2003 by Princeton Survey Research Associates / Braun Research. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3.8 points for the parent sample and +/- 5.5 points for the children sample and the definitions for obesity are based on the Center for Disease Control parameters. About PREVENTION Magazine PREVENTION magazine, America's leading health magazine, has been providing readers with the most current information on health, fitness, nutrition, and healthy, active lifestyles since 1950. It is the nation's most authoritative, trustworthy, and innovative source for practical health information. In addition to reaching 10 million readers every month, the magazine publishes 13 special interest titles yearly; publishes international editions in Finland, Poland, and 22 Latin American countries; conducts national surveys examining important health issues; and hosts a highly acclaimed Web site, prevention.com. Published 12 times a year, PREVENTION magazine is published by Rodale Inc. About Rodale Inc. For more than 60 years, Rodale has been a leading publisher of information on healthy, active lifestyles. With a mission to inspire and enable people to improve their lives and the world around them, Rodale reaches more than 30 million people every month through its magazines, books, Web sites and other media. Rodale properties include such well-known magazines as Prevention, Men's Health, Organic Style, Organic Gardening, Runner's World, Backpacker, Bicycling, Mountain Bike and Rodale's Scuba Diving. The largest independent bookseller in America, Rodale publishes nearly 100 new book titles each year in the categories of health, fitness, environmental issues, sports, narrative non-fiction, biography, memoir, parenting, inspiration, home arts and more and maintains a strong backlist of more than 500 book titles. Recent Rodale New York Times Bestsellers include, Dr. Shapiro's Picture Perfect Weight Loss, 8 Minutes in the Morning, The Wrinkle Cure and the No. 1 bestseller The South Beach Diet. DATASOURCE: Rodale Inc. CONTACT: Robin Shallow of Rodale Inc., +1-212-573-0474, or Web site: http://www.prevention.com/

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