And while health visitors and nursery nurses were expert at helping with breast-feeding, it was the GPs who had the best knowledge about the risks of a young child gaining too much fat. But they believed that health visitors should advise parents on feeding.

The project at Nottingham University’s school of nursing aims to find ways to predict and prevent obesity in early childhood.

Now researchers are calling for parents to give them more views on how much help they would welcome.

The study found parents concerned about whether breast-milk was adequate for a child’s growth – and confused over when to start weaning. Some believed it was desirable for a baby to be large and chubby while others believed a baby’s crying always meant hunger.

Researcher Sarah Redsell, a health visitor, said: “We are keen to hear parents’ opinions about whether or not healthcare professionals should be trying to prevent childhood obesity by identifying babies who may be at risk.”

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Source: Englemed Newsroom

This could be wrong, however, as an absent father might be at home keeping the family together. And even when nurses identified a “good father” the man might still feel marginalised – as nurses tended to interact more fully with mothers.

Writing with Swansea University lecturer Sue Philpin, she calls for special training to help nurses make fathers feel “involved and valued” in the care of their sick children.

The lecturers found that some fathers felt “marginalised or disregarded” on wards – but others chose a subordinate role because of their own gender-based expectations.

For the research, the lecturers interviewed fathers whose children were admitted to hospital through accident and emergency departments – and also the nurses who care for their children.