Obese mothers more likely to have fat daughters
New research has claimed that obese mothers are ten times more likely to have fat daughters than those of healthy weight. Overweight fathers are also six times more likely to have obese sons. The findings, which suggest children are picking up bad eating & exercise habits from their parents, have serious implications for the childhood obesity epidemic.
It is usually seen that one in ten children is obese by the age of five years. The children who are overweight are at greater risk of diabetes, cancer & heart disease later in life. Weight has become a major health problem in children. Thee is a link between obese parents & their offspring is behavioral & that youngsters learn unhealthy behavior from role models at home.
The connection is very unlikely to be genetic because inherited traits such as obesity are rarely passed down on gender lines. The scientists found that just 3 % of boys with fathers of normal weight were obese, compared to 18 % with fat fathers. On the other hand 4 % of girls with normal-weight mothers were obese, compared to 41 % with fat mothers.
These findings suggest that the obesity epidemic could spiral out of control when today's fat youngsters have obese children of their own. The parents should be in a good condition to bring up their children in a normal manner. The obesity epidemic is one of the most challenging public health issues of this time.
“This is an interesting study and the question is worth investigating but its conclusions are based on very small numbers and should be viewed as very preliminary,” said Professor Stephen O'Rahilly. He said further, “I am sure other groups will soon test this hypothesis in much large numbers of families. Until that time we should treat these findings as potentially interesting but not paradigm changing.”
It is usually seen that one in ten children is obese by the age of five years. The children who are overweight are at greater risk of diabetes, cancer & heart disease later in life. Weight has become a major health problem in children. Thee is a link between obese parents & their offspring is behavioral & that youngsters learn unhealthy behavior from role models at home.
The connection is very unlikely to be genetic because inherited traits such as obesity are rarely passed down on gender lines. The scientists found that just 3 % of boys with fathers of normal weight were obese, compared to 18 % with fat fathers. On the other hand 4 % of girls with normal-weight mothers were obese, compared to 41 % with fat mothers.
These findings suggest that the obesity epidemic could spiral out of control when today's fat youngsters have obese children of their own. The parents should be in a good condition to bring up their children in a normal manner. The obesity epidemic is one of the most challenging public health issues of this time.
“This is an interesting study and the question is worth investigating but its conclusions are based on very small numbers and should be viewed as very preliminary,” said Professor Stephen O'Rahilly. He said further, “I am sure other groups will soon test this hypothesis in much large numbers of families. Until that time we should treat these findings as potentially interesting but not paradigm changing.”
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