A few weeks back we heard that mother-toddler relationship could influence teenage obesity. According to this report by professionals at New York University, positive parenting at initial stages of childhood may hold the key to prevent obesity.
The analysis involved nearly 186 kids arriving from low-income and minority families who were at high risk for obesity. These children were randomly categorized into 2 groups of family intervention or control. Behavioral family intervention included a 2-hour parent and child discussion per week during early childhood. The activities were not inclusive of issues related to body mass, activity or nutrition.
“Children who enter school with behavior problems are at very high risk for academic underachievement and school dropout, antisocial behavior, delinquency, obesity and other health problems. ParentCorps engages parents of high-risk children, reduces harsh and ineffective parenting and prevents early behavior problems from escalating into more serious and intractable problems,†cited professor of child and adolescent psychiatry and Director of the Center for Early Childhood Health and Development at the NYU Child Study Center.
As per the outcomes of the trial, children who underwent parental intervention seemed to encounter substantially lower levels of obesity, relative to those in the control group. Moreover, the former group manifested lower blood pressure and less consumption of carbohydrates too. With regards to physical activity and sedentary behavior, positive outcomes were associated with early family intervention.
The team believed that positive parenting by means of health care programs may help in preventing obesity among children suffering from behavioral problems. This study is published in the February 6 issue of the journal, Pediatrics.