Genes and the environment? Factors, patterns that lead to childhood obesity risk
One factor that has been linked to childhood obesity is restrictive feeding practices by primary caregivers, the implication being that it may interfere with a child's ability to learn to self-regulate food intake. Not surprisingly, when a child is overweight, parents tend to use more controlling, restrictive feeding practices, and parent-child communication about weight and restrictive feeding is often negative, another factor that increases obesity risk. A new study from the University of Illinois is showing that a child's genetics, related to emotion and cognition , may also play a role in this pattern. Finding a way to break the patterns that lead to childhood obesity is not about blaming parents, but encouraging parents to find new strategies in dealing with children's emotions, says Kelly Bost, a professor of child development in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at the U of I. "Some of the things parents do, they may not think are re...