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November 13, 2007A Higher Risk of Obesity for Children Neglected by Parents |
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From Temple University: Strategies for decreasing a child's risk for obesity often focus on improving eating habits and maintaining a high level of physical activity. While this is one way to address the issue, another way to reduce the risk of childhood obesity could simply come down to positive parenting, according to a Temple University study published in the November issue of Child Abuse & Neglect. "This is the first study to show the association between neglect in childhood and childhood obesity. Previous studies looked at maltreatment in childhood and how it affected these individuals in adulthood," said Dr. Robert Whitaker, the study's lead author and a pediatrician and professor of public health at Temple University. At age 3, 2,412 of these children had their height and weight measured, and mothers answered items on the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scales about three types of child maltreatment in the prior year: neglect (such as not providing proper supervision for the child), corporal punishment (such as spanking the child on the bottom with a bare hand) and psychological aggression (such as threatening to spank the child but not actually doing it). "Corporal punishment and psychological aggression are common discipline techniques resulting from a child's misbehavior, and the child may come to anticipate them as consequences of their misbehavior," Whitaker said. "These experiences of neglect could translate into a great deal of stress for the child, which might, in turn, influence mood, anxiety, diet and activity. "You can't make a child's life stress free, but parents can strive to be more of a buffer against stress, rather than one of the causes of stress," he said.
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