If their mothers are obese the statistics show that the daughters are 10 times more likely to be overweight; with sons the chance is 6 times more likely that they will be overweight if their father is overweight.

These results came from a study into whether childhood obesity was linked to environmental influences instead of genetic ones. The study involved looking at BMI’s for 226 five-year-olds and their parents. The researchers noted a relationship between the BMI of the children and the same sex parent. However no link was found between the children and the parent of the opposite sex. This suggests that the link is environmental as if it was genetic it would be unlikely to be gender selective.

These findings are not really surprising as it is a logical step that the parents eating habits and lifestyle would influence the child but what is surprising is that it seems to be gender specific. One possible explanation for the relationship between children and same sex parents is that the children use their parents as role models and so model their behaviour on the parent of the same sex.

If this is the case you would have thought that the parents would ensure that they are a positive role model for their children. Also they should take into consideration that the “fat kids” are usually singled out by bullies and are more prone to health problems such as diabetes and heart problems, add into the mix the psychological problems such as low self esteem. It is also worth pointing out that your eating habits can be passed down through the generations so not only are your children affected but your grandkids and great….grandkids.

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