The study included families with children aged 4–11 registered with Maccabi Healthcare Services either at the clinic in Efrat or at the Hadassah-K'tana clinic in Jerusalem. During 2008, 439 mothers completed questionnaires and the interviewers weighed and measured 814 of their children. There was a 50% response rate. Information on associated morbidity and utilization of health services was obtained from Maccabi's computerized databases.

Approximately 30% of the families had at least one overweight or obese child. Twenty percent of the children were overweight or obese. The variables with an independent effect on having at least one overweight child in the family were: Father of Asian-African origin; immigration to Israel since 1995; non-academic education; mother aged less than 40; mother who has been overweight in the past and who has exhibited lack of control in her eating habits. The variables with an independent effect on being overweight at the child's level were: Age below 7 years; not fussy; eats a broad diversity of foods; maintains an "inactive" lifestyle; eats the main meal at daycare center or afternoon enrichment center at least once a week. The associated morbidity and service utilization rates were higher among overweight children than children with the desirable weight.

Parents and medical staff must be provided with information about the risk factors and implications of being overweight; the documentation of children's BMI data must be improved; pro-active monitoring of the medical condition of overweight/obese children must be encouraged, even if the children do not present symptoms of illness. It is recommended that a follow-up study be conducted among a national representative sample of children in order to improve the possibility of generalizing the findings.