foodconsumer.org: Childhood obesity: Your children are what YOU eat

Childhood obesity: Your children are what YOU eat
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admin on 07/13/2009 22:02:00
 
By Sheilah Downey
Global obesity has reached epidemic proportions, say the latest figures from the
World Health Organization, who estimate that more than 1 billion adults and 22
million children are overweight globally.
While the WHO suggests "profound societal changes" or genes may be the cause of
the disturbing trend, a study released today (July 13) states that overweight
parents may be to blame for their children's obesity.
Published in the International Journal of Obesity, the study found that obese
mothers were 10 times more likely to have obese daughters, and that fathers were
six times more likely to have obese sons.
Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, England, noted that
obesity is a learned behavior, not necessarily a genetic factor, and is also
gender related.
A June 4 Health Survey report found that 60.8 percent of British adults were
overweight and 24 percent of those obese, not far behind the estimated 34
percent of American adults who are obese.
Dr. Terry Wilkin, of the Peninsula Medical School, said in addition to the
gender related obesity results could change traditional ways of dealing with the
epidemic of obesity.
"The clearly defined gender-assortative pattern which our research has uncovered
is an exciting one because it points towards behavioral factors at work in
childhood obesity," said Wilkin. "These findings could turn our thinking on
childhood obesity dramatically on its head."
Previous attempts to stem the flood of obesity cases, said Wilkin, have focused
on preventing obesity in childhood thinking it would solve the problem in
adulthood. That theory, says Wilkin, may have to be shelved.
"(The study's) evidence supports the opposite hypothesis," he said, "that
children are becoming obese due to the influence of their same-sex parents and
that we will need to focus on changing the behavior of the adult if we want to
combat obesity in the child."