Study shows how motherly behaviors are correlated to childhood obesity

Dec 27, 2011 10:18 GMT  ·  By

Investigators at the Ohio State University say that the nature of relationships between mothers and their babies are important factors in determining the weight that child will have later on in life. The way the two interact also reflects on the self-image the child will have as he or she grows into a teen.

According to the team, the most important things to consider when analyzing the relationships between mothers and toddlers are the woman's sensitivity to her child, and the little one's sense of emotional security. If these two values are low, then the child is more likely to become obese as he or she grows.

The research was focused on how these interactions would influence children until they reach the age of 15. In order to do that, experts used data from the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, covering about 977 participants.

This particular study was a project of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. All families that participated in the study had children born in 1991. They lived in 9 different states, spread out throughout the US, PsychCentral reports.

Toddlers who had the lowest-quality emotional relationships with their mothers were 25 percent more likely to become obese by the age of 15 than their peers. Only 13 percent of those who go along well with their mothers displayed an increased risk of becoming obese.

“It is possible that childhood obesity could be influenced by interventions that try to improve the emotional bonds between mothers and children rather than focusing only on children’s food intake and activity,” said Sarah Anderson, PhD, explains.

She holds an appointment as an assistant professor of epidemiology at OSU. The expert was also the lead author of a new study detailing the findings, which will appear in the January 2012 issue of the esteemed medical journal Pediatrics.

“The sensitivity a mother displays in interacting with her child may be influenced by factors she can’t necessarily control. Societally, we need to think about how we can support better-quality maternal-child relationships because that could have an impact on child health,” Anderson explains.

This study also suggests that there's more to treating childhood obesity than placing an emphasis on exercising regularly and earing healthy. For researchers, it would be interesting to learn how the mother-toddler interactions influence the latter much later in life, such as for example during adulthood.