I've read a study that said that statistically speaking thinner parents often had thinner children and overweight or obese parents often had overweight/obese kids. This study also covered nature vs. nurture and even in adopted homes children from larger parents were on larger.
Have you seen this or have you seen the opposite?
Anonymous
Favorite Answer
First off, children "inherited" their parents body types and metabolism. If parents were big-boned, heavy-weight or had a hard time loosing weight (and vice versa), unfortunately children will be dealing with the same problems.
When parents are active and eat healthy, they usually enforce these rules upon the children themselves. I think there is a link between parent's weight and children's weight, but that doesn't mean a fat parent = fat kids. It's hard for adults to stay in shape and it's hard for mom's to loose their baby fat. An 8-year-old usually doesn't have to worry about that.
Nana to TWO
I haven't seen studies, but I believe this to be true. If the parents aren't eating properly and are overweight, well, the kids are eating the same foods generally. If the parents are thin and eat healthy, their kids most likely will too and stay thin as well. Of course I've seen the opposite too where heavy folks have thin kids and thin parents have overweight children, but I believe for the most part it's the first way.
mommy to 3!
My mom was obese and I'm no where near obese! I could see how sometimes it would be like that, if the mother or father doesn't care about their health, then the child may go down the same path. Like if mommy doesn't want to cook and they always go out for dinner, then it could happen very easily.
But then there are children ( like me as a child and even more now) see issues with this, when you watch that parent get sick from being overweight, see the hospital trips and watching as the go into diabetic shock, because they cant Control their weight or what they eat. you see a different life for your self. I don't want to be like that. I want to live a full healthy life, and i realized this as a young child.
I wouldn't eat junk food ( except 5 cents candy ...my one weakness) but i always ate healthy, we didn't have the money for junk like McDonald's and i think that helped. I think that this study is sort of on track but like any other study its not the same for everyone, there are always exceptions! but good question!
♥Fancy♥
As a general idea, there probably is some sort of a correlation between overweight parents and overweight kids. If you really think about it, the parents have food in the house that is unhealthy and causes them to be overweight, so the kids can get ahold of it. They learn from their parents, and that includes eating habits. You have to think about the kind of food that parents give their kids for lunch or the fact that they probably just make one dinner for the whole family. If they make one unhealthy dinner and the kid is too young to make their own healthy food, they eat the unhealthy meal as well. I'm sure there is a variable when it comes to disorders or kids who are in every activity there is and kids who eat a lot of unhealthy food and do not exercise, but for the most part, kids don't do their own grocery shopping and eating heaps of unhealthy crap is usually a learned behavior.
Victoria
Definitely due to their lifestyle. Kids pick up on example, if parents eat unhealthy food the child will do the same because they don't know better. If you're brought up with a habit it's hard to leave it. But sometimes the kids grow up and change lol.