Children's weight issues: Are parents to blame?
| Updated: Nov 22, 2018, 13:46 IST
Most of us tend to blame our parents when it comes to weight and weight issues, however, a new study states that blaming them isn't fair by them after all. Researchers at King’s College London and University College London found that parents adapt their feeding styles in line with a child’s genetic predisposition towards a higher or lower weight.
Published in PLOS Genetics journal, the findings of the study suggest that parents are not dictating their children’s eating habits, but responding to their child’s emerging characteristics. “Our findings suggest that parents develop their feeding practices in response to their child’s natural tendency towards a higher or lower weight,” said Saskia Selzam, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience at King’s College London.
Senior author Dr. Clare Llewellyn from University College London said that the results of the study show that parents are not the “full story” when it comes to a child’s weight. Hence, blaming parents for the child's weight issues might not be the right conclusion after all. The correct conclusion, however, being that blaming parents for being too controlling about feeding may be unfair.
Published in PLOS Genetics journal, the findings of the study suggest that parents are not dictating their children’s eating habits, but responding to their child’s emerging characteristics. “Our findings suggest that parents develop their feeding practices in response to their child’s natural tendency towards a higher or lower weight,” said Saskia Selzam, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience at King’s College London.
Senior author Dr. Clare Llewellyn from University College London said that the results of the study show that parents are not the “full story” when it comes to a child’s weight. Hence, blaming parents for the child's weight issues might not be the right conclusion after all. The correct conclusion, however, being that blaming parents for being too controlling about feeding may be unfair.