Poor Mother-Daughter Relationship Linked to Obesity

Having a poor relationship with your mother by the time you turn 15 years of age could have a drastic impact with researchers stating that such a relationship could increase the risk of obesity by more than two times. The study was conducted by researchers from the Ohio State University who observed more than 1,000 toddlers and their bond with their mothers. The researchers followed up on the participants when they were 15 years of age and found that those with the weakest bond with their mothers were twice more likely to become obese compared to those who had good relationship with their mothers.

Lead researcher Sarah Anderson said that one of the reasons could be that children who have a poor relationship with their mothers tend to eat more comfort food throughout their childhood.

“It is possible 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. We need to think about how we can support better-quality maternal-child relationships because that could have an impact on child health”, she said. The study will be published in the next month’s Journal of Pediatrics.



Source-Medindia