Women Corner

The International Journal of Obesity has recently published a report that claims to genetically link childhood obesity to their parents eating habits. We all know that the environment will play a major factor in our child’s habits and tendencies, especially at a young age. However this new research seems to link weight loss to the type of eating habits shown by the child’s parents; regardless of how close attention you pay to your daughter’s weight.

Skeptics of this claim say that there cannot possibly be a genetic, scientific link to child obesity to how their parents typically eat. They claim that behavioral and parental supervision plays the only role in obesity outside of serious health problems. director Terry Wilkin, of Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth, England, said, “All of their misinformed case studies and experiments have formed a belief that obese children and adolescents become obese adults nearly 100% of the time, and that as long as you prevent obesity in very young children that there is no chance of them becoming obese later in life. My conclusions support the direct opposite claim; children are turning out to be obese because of the influence of the same-sex parent. There is no direct genetic link between them and putting all the attention and focus on the child will not fix this problem. In order to effectively combat childhood obesity we shouldn’t be looking in a test tube. We should be looking at the eating habits of the child’s parents and trying to change them. All it really comes down to is that parents should simply be setting a better example for their kids.”

Although it sounds like an oversimplification, most scientists believe this theory as opposed to some sort of mysterious genetic link that absolves both the parent and child from responsibility over their eating. All in all kids learn their habits, quirks and practically every part of their early personalities from their parents. If the same sex parent is over 100 pounds overweight and do nothing to try and change it, then sons or daughters are 90% likely to be obese as well.

The best thing concerned parents can do if they are really concerned about their kids weight is to educate themselves and their children in proper nutrition. You don’t need to put a permanent ban on the junk food or run 20 miles every day, but by starting your children off on a sound nutritional diet at a young age (and sticking to one yourself!) will not only keep them healthier, but studies have proven that children with balanced diets do better on tests, retain information longer, and can go a long way into correcting disruptive behavior as well.

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• what is the relationship between genetics and behavioral eating habits