Human Services News

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

The fight against obesity in children just got a new weapon, thanks to a multi-year study by researchers from Texas A&M University.

The study found that the amounts and quality of time parents spent with their children has a direct effect on children's rates of obesity, said Dr. Alex McIntosh, lead researcher.

McIntosh is professor of sociology with a research appointment from Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture study, "Parental Time, Role Strain and Children's Fat Intake and Obesity-Related Outcomes," was published in June.

In general, researchers found the amount of time a mother spent with her child, her work stress and her income level had a larger impact in lowering the child's risk of obesity than the father's time, work stress and income, McIntosh said.

As a sociologist, McIntosh has long wondered how parents influence their children's nutritional habits, he said.

She is a professor of nutrition and food science and associate dean for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

"Of concern is the fact that the prevalence is increasing at younger and younger ages.

Because so many families are headed by two working parents, the focus of the research was to look at how the parents' work-related stress, flexibility and general work conditions influenced the children's nutrition, McIntosh said.

"One factor in the development of childhood obesity that has been suggested but about which little research data exist is mothers working outside of the home," Kubena said.

The study found 9- to 11-year-olds' fathers spend an average of 80 minutes per day with their children, while mothers' average time spent with their children is 125 minutes.

Dr. George Davis, Experiment Station economist and professor in the department of agricultural economics at Texas A&M, said as a father's income goes up, a child's body mass index also increases for 9- to 11- year-olds.

Davis said a number of studies have been conducted, but none examined income, health and the amount of parental time spent with a child.

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