NEW YORK (Reuters) -- While the majority of American parents understand the basics of healthy eating, their children are more often than not growing up nutritionally deprived.

A new survey reveals that "parents need a better understanding of how to follow dietary and exercise recommendations," according to Dr. Ronald Kleinman, associate chief of the department of pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Kleinman spoke at an American Medical Association (AMA) conference on nutrition held Thursday in New York.

He elaborated on the results of the just-released AMA's Children's Nutrition Study, which surveyed over 700 American parents. Each parent was quizzed as to their personal understanding of 'good' nutrition, as well as their perceptions of the attitudes and eating habits of the children under their care.

Some of the study findings:

• Nearly all parents (99%) agreed that "it is important for my child to eat nutritious foods." The majority (91%) say it's important to restrict the level of sugars children consume, while 84% believe dietary fat reduction is important to their children's health.

• Children continue to load up on sweets and fats, however. Soft drinks were picked by more parents (27%) as their child's "preferred" drink than any other beverage. And fatty foods (like chips and other snacks) were eaten by youngsters nearly 5 times per week on average. Despite these numbers, approximately three out four parents admit they are "not that concerned" that their child "drinks too many soft drinks" or "only likes junk food."

• Four out of five parents said they were familiar with the federal government's dietary guidelines as expressed in the "Food Pyramid," which urges high consumption of grains, fruits and vegetables, along with low intake of sugars and fats. However, less than half of parents surveyed said they used the Pyramid to help plan their children's meals.

The result of this bad nutritional planning is obesity and illness, Kleinman says. "Children and adults are more overweight now than ever before," he said. "It wouldn't be so bad if people were just overweight. What's disconcerting is the rising incidence of illness and future health problems associated with being overweight."

Why aren't parents doing more to change their children's eating habits? Kleinman believes many feel conflicted by a barrage of often contradictory nutritional advice. "Every couple of weeks, it seems nutritional risk factors that impact on the risk for heart disease are being published."

He advises that parents avoid 'fad' diets and stick to tried-and-true formulas (like the Food Pyramid recommendations) when it comes to laying down the ground rules for choosing foods.

He admits it can be difficult for parents to force children to eat, or avoid, certain foods. Extreme positions rarely work anyway. "People should refrain from manipulating a child's diet in a way that makes it rich in one particular vitamin or rigidly restricting certain foods that we think might harm the child," Kleinman said. Hot dogs and ice cream "have a place in the diet just like tomatoes and carrots."

First and foremost, parents can and should lead by their own healthy-eating example. And Kleinman says subtle reminders of good nutrition, such as posting the Food Pyramid on the fridge door, or setting out healthy, alternative snacks, may work better than hard-line restrictions on 'bad' foods.

Comment: The issue with children is same as it is for adults - lifestyle. Most people lead hectic lives and do not take the time to eat balanced meals daily. As discussed in other articles, even with an optimal diet, it is nearly impossible to receive the recommended daily allowance of dietary fiber and nutrients. My 12 year old daughter, Caitlin, uses Bios Life 11 once a day to assist in the proper intake of dietary fiber which is just as important for young people as it is for adults. Bios Life helps regulate her blood sugar and cholesterol and helps to offset the effects of the foods she likes to eat which includes pizza, snacks and sweets. She is well aware of the importance of eating fruit, vegitables etc. and does a pretty good job with that overall. She also takes children's essentials twice a day for all of her vitamin supplement needs. Finally I have her taking DefendOL once a day to help her fight the colds, flu, and what not, that regularly go through the school system. I think she may have had a minor sniffle in the past year for a day or two but missed no school due to sickness.