A new study suggests many Canadian parents are in denial about their children's alarming weight gains.

Statistics Canada reports that 26 per cent of children under the age of 18 are overweight or obese.

But the Canadian Medical Association reports that nine per cent of parents responding to their annual survey acknowledged their kids had weight problems.

"It's surprising that parents see their children as being less fat than they really are," Dr. Ruth Collins-Nakai, president of the association representing Canada's physicians, told CTV's Canada AM.

Collins-Nakai, a specialist in cardiac care for both children and adults, said she is concerned that parents are killing their children with kindness by setting them up for a lifetime of inactivity and poor health.

"Children are not eating as healthy foods as they used to eat and they're not as active -- and when you have too much food and not enough activity -- you become fat and you become unfit," Collins-Nakai said.

"And as a result, you develop all kinds of disease possibilities. You can develop high blood pressure, diabetes, heart problems, joint problems. So there are a whole series of things that occur and what happens is if we have unhealthy children, we have a very unhealthy adult population."

The medical association's annual report card surveys Canadian attitudes towards the health-care system, including levels of service and the performance of governments.

Canadian parents were also asked to grade the overall health of children, their support for health policy initiatives, and their access to various services. in this year's survey, released to the public on Monday.

While the report card suggested parents are in denial about their children's health, an overwhelming majority -- 92 per cent -- expressed strong support for mandatory physical activity in schools.

"Some provinces are taking steps,'' Collins-Nakai told the Canadian Press.

"For instance, Alberta has now implemented daily physical education in its schools. However, that's a maximum of 30 minutes a day and it may not be moderate or vigorous level activity. The Europeans are recommending an hour and a half a day every day for children in terms of physical activity. So, we have a long way to go.''

The survey also indicated strong support -- more than 80 per cent -- for removing junk foods from school vending machines and providing tax breaks for parents to offset fees for sports and other physical programs.

"Parents and organizations alike, even governments, agreed that we have to do something to improve the health of children. Whether that's the creation of healthy public policies or perhaps just changes in family routines, we need to do something and we need to act now," Collins-Nakai told Canada AM.

In a separate survey of parents of children with special needs, the report card suggests the mental health-care needs of these children are not being met.

Fewer than one in 10 of the 129 parents of special need children surveyed gave top marks to children's mental health services.

"Special needs children are getting less attention than they should both in terms of their health, things like their physical health, things like activity and diet, but also their mental health or their special health needs," Collins-Nakai said.

'It's much more difficult for parents of special needs children to get the services they need," she said, adding that there is a shortage of mental health workers.

The survey of 1,600 Canadians, conducted by Ipsos-Reid in June, also suggested that Canadians are feeling more confident about their health-care system.

In 2006, 67 per cent of respondents gave the system an "A'' or "B'' for overall quality, while last year only 63 per cent gave such high marks.

The survey was divided into three sections with separate margins of error.

The survey of 593 parents is considered accurate within plus or minus four percentage points, 19 times out of 20; the survey of 1,007 adults is accurate within 3.2 percentage points; and the survey of 129 parents of special needs children is accurate within 8.63 percentage points.

With files from The Canadian Press