Mothers have more influence than fathers with respect to the weight of children

Overweight and obesity often continue for generations in families. The links can be genetic, but are also related to family relationships and lifestyle habits.

"Parents have a major impact on the health and lifestyle of their children.The behaviors that lead to obesity are easily transferred from one parent to the other," said Marit Næss , head of the laboratory at the HUNT research center and doctoral candidate at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. (NTNU) in Trondheim.

But how do parents' lifestyle changes affect their children's body mass index (BMI)? Very differently, it depends, whether it's the mother or the father.

If the mother loses weight, it affects the children. "If the mother drops two to six kilograms, it may be related to a lower BMI in children," says Kirsti Kvaløy, researcher at HUNT, a longitudinal study on the health of the population in the former North . Trøndelag County in central Norway.

The researchers found no significant connection if the father was losing weight, although it was possible to read a trend in the same direction. The results largely correspond to similar studies in India and Finland, but the Finns found that the heavier fathers also affected the weight of their daughters. And the differences between the impacts of lifestyle changes of father and mother do not stop there.

Less activity, heavier children

"Mothers whose level of activity declines as their children get older are associated with children with a high BMI in adolescence," says Næss.

If the mother does not stay physically active, the children become taller. The father's choices have had no significant impact here either. The less active fathers were not related to a higher BMI in their children.

According to Næss and Kvaløy, mothers are probably still primarily responsible for planning activities at home and possibly for food choices, although this study did not address these issues. The mother-child bond can often affect the mother who wants to lose weight. She makes small changes to her diet and her habits that affect the whole family.

This notion is reinforced by the fact that researchers found no corresponding relationship when parents lose weight enormously. This type of weight change is often associated with an illness or more elaborate diets that do not involve other family members.

Education also plays a role

The results are fairly clear also when one takes into account the level of education. "On average, BMI is lower in families with higher education than in less educated families," said Kvaløy.

But reducing maternal weight seems to exert greater influence on the BMI of children in families with higher education.

The study included 4,424 children and parents who participated in the HUNT study. The researchers tracked the weight and physical activity changes over eleven years. A recent positive change is that people have generally become more physically active during their free time. The results of the study were published in BMJ Open.

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More information:
Marit Naess et al, Implications of parents' lifestyle changes and level of education on the weights of adolescent children: A population-based cohort study – The HUNT Study, Norway, BMJ Open (2018). DOI: 10.1136 / bmjopen-2018-023406