Childhood Obesity and How Parents May Contribute

If both of a child's parents are overweight, that's a double whammy for the likeliness that the child will grow up to be overweight. Some people point to genetics, but this can also be due to several other factors. You might be surprised at how parents can unintentionally contribute to their child's weight problem.

Though genetics do play a vital role in a lot of aspects of an individual's life, weight is usually not affected by this. It is said that only 6% of obese children and adults are overweight because of a genetic factor. Though genetic obesity isn't very common, a lot of people use this excuse as a scapegoat to avoid seeing how the choices they make affect how their bodies turn out.

Monkey see, monkey do. We've all heard this expression before, and it's actually a great example of how children become obese. A lot of children model their eating habits after what their parents eat, and most of the time they will carry that same model into adulthood. If you have two overweight parents that eat a lot, consequently, you probably won't have a very good grasp on portion control. Likewise, if your parents idea of a healthy dinner is a McDonald's Value Meal, you probably won't think much of having fast food as a part of your regular diet.

Another parental factor adding to the child obesity level is the type of physical activities that the family participates in. To some parents, the only type of family time that exists is sitting in front of the table at mealtime and watching television together afterwards. A family that spends most of their free time together hiking, biking, or doing other physical activities is less likely to have obese children than a family who spends their free time doing sedentary activities.

It's often said that parents help shape the lives of their children. A lot of parents probably don't think of this in terms of scale weight. But it's true, parents have a rather drastic effect on their child's weight issues. And in this case, "Do what I say and not what I do," usually doesn't work.