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The teenage years are key to predicting obesity in adults, according to a 20-year study of children in Australia.
Researchers weighed and measured the heights of nearly 8,500 children who were between seven nd 15 years old in 1985. Participants were given followup questionnaires when they were 25 to 35 years old.
In Monday's issue of the Medical Journal of Australia, researchers said girls who were obese were up to nine times more likely to become obese as adults compared with those who were a healthy weight when young. Boys who were obese were nearly five times more likely to grow up to be obese men, Prof. Alison Venn from the Menzies Research Institute in Hobart and her colleagues said. "Obesity in childhood was strongly predictive of obesity in early adulthood, but most obese
young adults were a healthy weight as children," the team concluded.
The time between adolescence to early adulthood could be an important period to target, they said. Obesity is a risk for diseases later in life, such as cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and some cancers."These are times of change in their lives, they are becoming increasingly independent, perhaps their meal times are less regular, perhaps they're cooking for themselves," Venn said.
"So we need to work out better ways to promote healthy eating and physical activity."
Dads' parenting style linked to obesityA father's parenting style may also affect children's weight, according to a second childhood obesity study from Australia.
The study of almost 5,000 children aged four to five and their parents suggested fathers who were more permissive were more likely to have overweight or obese children compared with dads who set clear limits."Mothers are often blamed for their children's obesity, but this study suggests that for more effective prevention, perhaps we should focus on the whole family," researcher Melissa Wake, a professor at the Centre for Community Child Health in Melbourne, said in a statement Monday.
"Given the importance of the family unit in a child's preschool years, and its influence on their nutrition and physical activity levels, it is timely to look at the parenting roles of both parents and the impact they have on a child's tendency to be overweight or obese." Children of fathers who were given freedom without limits, such as on what foods they could
eat and how much, were more likely to be heavier, Wake and her colleagues said.In contrast, fathers with a more consistent parenting style who set clear limits and followed through with instructions were less likely to have overweight children. No link was found between the mothers' parenting style and the weight of her children. Parents self-reported their behaviour, and the researchers adjusted for the body mass index or BMI of the parents, which also affects children's weights. |
