New Study Shows Stressed Parents May Cause Children to be Obese

Childhood obesity is a growing problem, so it's not surprising that researchers are continuing to look at what might cause this condition and how best to treat it. Now, scientists have discovered something new when it comes to weight gain in children. It turns out that parental stress is linked to obesity in children.

In order to get a better look at what might cause weight gain in children, the researchers studied data collected during the Children's Health Study, one of the largest and most comprehensive investigations into the long-term effects of air pollution on the respiratory health of children. The children's BMI was calculated each year, and their parents were given a questionnaire to measure their perceived psychological stress.

"Childhood is a time when we develop inter-connected habits related to how we deal with stress, how we eat and how active we are," said Ketan Shankardass, one of the researchers, in a news release. "It's a time when we might be doing irreversible damage or damage that is very hard to change later."

In the end, the researchers found that children whose parents have high levels of stress have a BMI about 2 percent higher than those whose parents have low levels of stress. In fact, children with higher parental stress gained weight at a 7 percent higher rate during the study period than other children.

The findings aren't all that surprising. When parents are stressed, they may change their behaviors which then influence their children; they could reduce the amount of physical activity in the household or increase the amount of unhealthy food available. Parental stress could also create stress for children, who cope by eating more or exercising less.

Yet there are ways to help with this particular issue. Scientists emphasize that interventions could be used to support families living in challenging conditions; making sure that these families have a reliable supply of healthy food or an opportunity to live in a nice neighborhood could go a long way in making sure that childhood obesity is kept under control.