Overweight kid? Maybe you are too strict

Parents have long been admonished to set a good example to their children, especially in establishing eating habits that foster good nutrition and a normal body weight.

Parents have long been admonished to set a good example to their children, especially in establishing eating habits that foster good nutrition and a normal body weight. Now a team of scientists have found that parental influence on a child8217;s weight goes beyond the specifics of food. Also at work are overall child-rearing styles.

They found, for example, that authoritarian mothers who dictate how their children are to behave at every turn, are most likely to have overweight kids. And mothers who are overly permissive or neglectful are twice as likely to have overweight children. The balanced child-rearing style, they say, is to be authoritative but not authoritarian.

The research team, headed by Dr Kyung E Rhee, a pediatrician at Boston Medical Center, analysed data for 872 children. The findings were published in Pediatrics.

Authoritative mothers typically use a give-and-take approach: they acknowledge their children8217;s worth and opinions, but maintain certain limits. 8220;Authoritative parents have high demands for maturity and self-control from their children but also display high levels of sensitivity, emotional warmth, and involvement,8221; the researchers wrote. In contrast, authoritarian parents 8220;have high demands for self-control but low levels of sensitivity8221;. They are more dictatorial. The researchers pointed out that an overly strict upbringing can 8220;have a negative impact8221; on weight because children may fail to learn to eat on the basis of internal cues of hunger and satiety. In such families, parents may use food as a reward, insist that children clean their plates, or restrict the kind and amount of foods.

Further, 8220;parents who demand that a child exercise may cause the child to lose any desire to exercise.8221; Similarly, in overly permissive families in which clearly defined limits are lacking, children may fail to develop 8220;effective self-regulation of eating behaviors,8221; the researchers concluded.

8211;JANE E BRODY