The risk of childhood obesity is strongly related to the behavior of the mother

The best thing that mothers can do to make sure their children avoid developing obesity, is to take care of themselves.

This is the main finding of a study on mothers and children published Wednesday in the British Medical Journal. Childhood obesity rates have more than tripled in the United States since the 1970s, according to the CDC. Almost 20% of children and adolescents aged 6 to 19 are now considered obese.

Being obese as a child has serious long-term health consequences, including an increased risk of diseases such as asthma, bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, diabetes mellitus, type 2, depression and risk factors. According to the study, genetics plays an important role in obesity, but researchers believe that lifestyle-related factors could be at the origin of the increased rate in recent decades.

The authors of the study therefore decided to analyze the lifestyle choices of mothers and children to see how they affected obesity rates.

It turns out that the lifestyle of mothers is significantly related to whether or not children are obese, as determined by body mass index (BMI), a measure of size and weight. (The BMI is considered an imperfect indicator of obesity at the individual level, but a valid way to measure obesity rates among larger populations.)

Mothers with a healthy lifestyle are more likely to have avoided obesity. But the degree to which these behaviors have made a difference can be surprising.

Children of mothers who followed five healthy lifestyle choices were 75% less likely to be obese.

Five Healthy Behaviors

The risk of obesity is lowest among children whose mothers make five healthy lifestyle choices. These mothers maintain a healthy weight, exercise at least the recommended 150 minutes a week and do not smoke. They eat a high quality diet, determined by high consumption of vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains, healthy fats and low consumption of sugary drinks, red meat and processed. Finally, they drink light to moderate amounts, quantified as two small glasses of wine or a pint of standard beer a day.

The study's authors used data from two research initiatives – Nurses' Health Study II (NHSII) and Growing Up Today's Study (GUTS) – which provided detailed data on 24,289 children aged 9-14 years born to 16,945 women.

On average, five years after initial data collection, just over 5% of children had become obese. The most important factor was whether or not mothers maintained a healthy weight – children of mothers whose BMI was considered obese were three times more likely to become obese. Smoking status also played an important role, with non-smoking children being 31% less likely to become obese.

Overall, the maternal lifestyle was more related to the fact that a child was developing obesity than the lifestyle of the children – although mothers and children adopt a healthy lifestyle (eat well and exercise), less likely to become obese.

Dads and Other Factors

This more recent study was observational, so the authors can not be sure that maternal behavior did that children ] maintain a healthy body weight, they can just say that children of mothers who have a healthy lifestyle are less likely to be obese. But other studies confirm that the maternal lifestyle has a major impact on the lifestyles of children.

Still, there are many other questions to answer. Since the mothers in this study were all nurses, they tend to be a healthy and educated population, and their children are significantly less likely to be obese than the rest of the general population. Data from a larger part of the American population would be useful.

In addition, all the information in this study is self-reported. There may be some inaccuracy in people's reports about their diet, exercise habits, or alcohol consumption, although the general trends are likely to be the same.

We also need studies that show how the paternal lifestyle could have an impact on children, write the authors in the study.

Yet the fact that children of mothers who adopt these five behaviors are 75% less likely to develop obesity is a huge deal. He says that one of the best ways to combat childhood obesity could be to make sure mothers are healthy in the first place.