Eating habits, healthy or unhealthy, are often developed early in life and can be influenced by many factors. Parental habits, perhaps unknowingly, can be quickly picked up by children. This is true for many behavioral habits, including dietary habits. Because parental eating habits can be passed onto children, it is important for parents to develop their own healthy eating habits. Two new research studies explored the impact that parental lifestyle habits can have on childhood habits.
In the first research study, investigators interviewed the mothers of over 1,600 3 year old children using a food frequency questionnaire in order to
assess the quality of both the women's and children's diets and to examine factors that influenced the diet quality of the children. The primary factor that influenced the quality of the children's diet was the quality of the mother's diet. According to the study summary, over 30% of the differences observed in the quality of a child's dietary habits was due to the mother's dietary habits. Mother's who more closely met current dietary recommendations were more likely to have children who also met these dietary recommendations. This was true regardless of the mother's education level, body size, or smoking habits and the child's time spent in front of the television. Overall, these study results clearly indicate that children can adopt a mother's dietary habits, even at the young age of 3 years. This stresses the importance for mothers to develop healthy eating habits and provide a good lifestyle role model for their children.
While this first study shows how important it is for mothers to provide a good role model for their children in regards to healthy eating, the burden is not theirs alone. In a separate study, obesity researchers
examined the impact of changes in father's lifestyle habits on their children's lifestyle habits. For this study, 53 overweight or obese father's and their grade school children (average age = 8 years) were either put on a waiting list for a dietary program (control group) or were enrolled in a 'Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids' program. The 3-month 'Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids' program required that fathers attend 8 face-to-face education sessions and bring their children to three of them. Investigators assessed body weight, waist size, BMI, resting heart rate, food consumption, and physical activity of both father's and their children at the beginning of the study and after 3 and 6 months. The obesity researchers reported that fathers in the 'Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids' program lost more weight, lost more inches from their waist, showed better improvements in blood pressure, and exercised more than fathers in the control group. Additionally, children whose fathers took part in the 'Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids' program showed improved dietary intake, improved resting heart rate, and more exercise. Overall, this study showed that fathers who developed better lifestyle habits and lost weight passed on these habits to their children who also developed better eating and exercise habits.
Both of these studies clearly show us the importance of parental lifestyle habits and how they can influence the habits of children. With the current high rate of childhood obesity, it is important for us to teach children better lifestyle habits, particularly in regards to diet and exercise. While these lessons can come from many places like the home and the school, teaching children proper habits is not enough. Providing children with good role models in regards to following good eating habits and meeting exercise guidelines is an important step parents can take to reduce childhood obesity, while also helping themselves to lead a healthier life.
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