Parents who swing between strict dieting and binge eating are failing to teach their children valuable lessons about hunger and satiety. The result is heavier kids.
By
Rebecca Segall, published on January 01, 2001 - last reviewed on January 31, 2008
Children are better copycats than listeners: They're more likely to
do what their parents do, rather than what their parents say. But
research shows that parents aren't always the best role models,
especially when it comes to eating a healthy diet.
Maggie Hood, Ph.D., a researcher at Boston University School of
Medicine, reports in the International Journal of Obesity that parents
who vacillated between severe dieting and episodes of bingeing had
children more likely to gain excessive weight throughout childhood.
Children of food-conscientious parents, on the other hand, were the least
likely to have gained weight throughout childhood.
Her research team followed 106 families over 11 years, annually
assessing height, weight, dietary patterns and attitudes toward food. "We
naturally expect that children will learn how to regulate their food
intake," says Hood. "But our research shows that some parents
inadvertently teach their kids to ignore their body's cues. Parents who
exhibit alternating control and loss of control are probably guided in
their own eating by more external than internal factors." She suggests
that these behaviors may be passed on to children, affecting their
ability to regulate their own dietary intake.
Bad eating habits, however, are not impossible to break, according
to Hood. "Erratic eaters should begin to deal with their food issues, and
meanwhile make a concerted effort to make healthy foods available for
their children," she suggests.
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