Fat Mothers Put Kids On Path To Obesity
According to a new study in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, three factors accelerate a child’s path to obesity:
- A fat mother…
- Too much TV viewing…
- Rapid weight gain in early childhood…
The researchers studied 571 New Zealand children of European heritage from birth until 7 years old.
Kids with a high percentage of body fat by age 3-1/2 were much more likely to be obese by 7 years old than kids with a low percentage of body fat.
Kids with rapid growth spurts were also more likely to become obese. (I don’t quite understand this one because I thought a growth spurt would make a child thinner.)
Being a girl also increased the chance of obesity.
The researchers found that children with overweight or obese mothers had about 4% more body fat than kids with normal weight mothers.
But the scientists weren’t sure if genes, a shared lifestyle, or exposure to specific things during pregnancy was the cause.
Kids who watched over 3 hours of TV a day had 5% more body fat than children who watched less than an hour of TV every day.
Inactivity also increased the risk of obesity. Every extra hour of inactivity added almost 1% of body fat to these kids.
The researchers concluded that children start on the path to obesity very early in life. We need to take steps to stop it just as early.
One easy method is to turn off the TV and get the kids playing in a physical way. I think TV and video games are the main reason this generation is suffering from so much childhood obesity.
These kids need to get up and move!
Technorati Tags: overweight, obesity, childhood obesity
September 14th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
When I was young, there were many children with overweight mothers. It didn’t make the children fat. I believe it’s the children’s lifestyles, not their mothers’ weight that’s doing it.
September 14th, 2007 at 4:09 pm
Being a girl increases the chance of being obese… it figures.
September 14th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
I like the way these researchers automatically assume it’s the “fat” mothers who cause their kids to be obese. What about fat fathers?
September 14th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
You tell ‘em, Sue. I’m going to run for cover now
September 14th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Kids are definitely heavier these days, but I’d be careful of making too much of it. Some kids lose their baby fat when they go through puberty. But they should be playing more outside and less with video games and TV which don’t burn any calories.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:25 pm
This was for New Zealand kids and their mothers. How do we know the results would hold for Americans?
September 14th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
Stephanie, take a look around you. The results hold for Americans.
September 15th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
We keep looking for reasons when it’s staring us in the face. Lifestyle. Nobody walks to work or the store or to their friends nowadays. Kids don’t go into the backyard and play with neighbor kids, they have playdates that their parents drive them to and then they play video games inside on their ever expanding butts. We’re all getting lazier and fatter and it starts at earlier ages than ever before.
September 16th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
At 3 years old it wouldn’t be smart to put a child on a diet, how would you know if it’s just baby fat or not. I have to side with the people here who say get the kids playing outside and off the video games. More physical exercise might not solve the problem but it’s gotta help.