Parental Stress Increases Obesity Risk In ChildrenYour Health ...

From Psych Central?..

Parental stress, often in the form of single-parent households, appears to play a role in childhood obesity, affecting both unhealthy food consumption and lower physical activity.

In the new study, investigators discovered parents with a high number of stressors in their lives are more likely to have obese children.

Specifically, researchers determined that when parents perceive themselves to be stressed, their children eat fast food more often, compared to children whose parents feel less stressed. Parental financial stress was also associated with lower levels of physical activity.

?Stress in parents may be an important risk factor for child obesity and related behaviors,? said Elizabeth Prout-Parks, M.D., the leader of a study recently published in journal Pediatrics. ?The severity and number of stressors are important.?

Parental stressors linked to childhood obesity include poor physical and mental health, financial strain, and leading a single-parent household, Prout-Parks said.

Although previous researchers had found a connection between parental stress and child obesity, the current study covered a more diverse population, both ethnically and socioeconomically, than did previous studies.

The study team suggested that interventions aimed at reducing parental stress and teaching coping skills may assist public health campaigns in addressing childhood obesity.

The researchers analyzed self-reported data from 2,119 parents and caregivers who participated in telephone surveys in the 2006 Southeastern Pennsylvania Household Health Survey/Community Health Database, conducted in Philadelphia and neighboring suburbs.

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Source: http://www.lensaunders.com/wp/?p=5844

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