Stable family atmosphere and quality parenting prevent obesity
Dileep Thekkethil
A new study has found that it is not a mother’s tendency to overfeed that result in obesity as it says the role played by fathers in developing healthy lifestyle habits have more effect on the young adults.
According to the researchers, young adults who live in happy and stable family atmosphere with quality parenting have less chance of inflicting obesity as they were more likely to have a healthy diet, physical activity, and sleep, which are triggers of the lifestyle disease.
The researchers also found that in predicting whether a young male will become obese, the mother-son relationship had far less to do than a relationship between son and father.
Jess Haines from the University of Guelph in Canada said: “Much of the research examining the influence of parents has typically examined only the mother’s influence or has combined information across parents.”
She also added that “Our results underscore the importance of examining the influence fathers have on their children and to develop strategies to help fathers support the development of healthy behaviors among their children.”
The report published in the Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity is based on the study conducted the researchers on 3,700 females and more than 2,600 males who were at all aged in between 14-24.
The researchers said almost 80% of their samples had a stable family with quality parenting, assessed by the way their parents conduct daily routines and how they fulfilled their particular roles, thus creating an emotional connection with young adults.
In all, six out of 10 females and half of the males reported high-quality relationships with their parents.
The researchers also noted that young adults coming from a high family functioning and quality family relationships had lesser eating disorders and were more actively involved in physical activity and also got quality sleep.
The study also found that young adults with good family background had less junk food, which is one of the main triggers of obesity and overweight.
The researchers were able to identify a close association with the quality of father-son relationship and the chances of being obese.
“It appears the father-son parent relationship has a stronger influence on sons than the mother-daughter relationship has on young women,” said Ms. Haines.
“In general, the findings show the importance of family behaviors and relationships on the health of young adults from an early age,” she added.
According to her, these can be powerful determinants of weight and related behaviors.
“A high level of family dysfunction may interfere with the development of healthful behaviors due to the families’ limited ability to develop routines related to eating, sleep or activity behaviors, which can lead to excess weight gain,” said Ms. Haines.