Parenting style is not that important, says study. Photo / Getty Images
Parenting style is not that important, says study. Photo / Getty Images
KEY POINTS:
Overweight or single mums are more likely to breed chubby children, research suggests.
A study published in the Medical Journal of Australia shows a mother's weight and marital status have more influence on childhood obesity than her parenting style.
The study found that family conflict, negative life events,and maternal depression were not likely to affect a child's tendency to become overweight or obese.
"We found that parenting style was not associated with childhood obesity," said lead author Lisa Gibson, a psychologist with the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth.
"Previous indications of a link between poor family functioning and childhood obesity were based on studies without population-based data and without observations across a range of theoretically important factors."
But parenting practices regarding eating and exercise may play a role in childhood weight problems, Dr Gibson said.
"Children from single-parent families, particularly when there is a family history of obesity, may struggle to maintain a healthy weight in an obesogenic environment with restricted access to nutritious foods and adequate facilities for recreational exercise," she said.
"The association between children's weight, maternal BMI [body mass index] and family structure confirms the need to find ways of targeting prevention and intervention efforts for childhood obesity at families with overweight parents, particularly under-resourced single-parent families."
