A new study published in this week’s edition of Pediatrics finds the relationship between a mother and her child could affect the child’s chances of obesity as a teenager.
The study looked at 977 children from the U.S. and found the less of an emotional bond a mother had with her child, the higher the risk that the child would become obese by the age of 15. More than one-quarter of all toddlers who had poor emotional relationships with their mothers were obese as teens, compared to only 13% of adolescents who were close to their moms.
Previous research at Ohio State University also found similar results: they found that toddlers had an increased risk of becoming obese by the age of 41/2 if they didn’t have a secure emotional relationship with their parents. Researchers believe the combined studies suggest that the areas of the brain that deal with emotions and stress as well as appetite and energy balance, may be working together to influence the likelihood that a child will be 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, assistant professor of epidemiology at Ohio State University and lead author of the study. “The sensitivity a mother displays in interacting with her child may be influenced by factors she can’t necessarily control. Society-wise, we need to think about how we can support better-quality maternal-child relationships because that could have an impact on child health.”
