WASHINGTON (AP) — Pediatricians are supposed to track if youngsters are putting on too many pounds — but a new study found less than a quarter of parents of overweight children recall the doctor ever saying there was a problem.

Does that mean doctors aren't screening enough kids, or aren't frank enough in these tough conversations? Or is the real story parent denial? The research published Monday can't tell, but makes it clear the message too often isn't getting through.

"It's tricky to say, and it's tricky to hear," says lead researcher Dr. Eliana Perrin of the University of North Carolina. She analyzed government health surveys that included nearly 5,000 parents of overweight children from 1999 to 2008.

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