Strict moms’ kids likelier to be obese

Published Wednesday, June 7, 2006

CHICAGO (AP) - "Clean your plate or else!" and other tough approaches to parenting can lead to overweight children, a study finds.

Strict mothers were nearly five times more likely to raise tubby first-graders than mothers who treated their children with flexibility and respect while also setting clear rules.

But while the children of flexible, rule-setting moms avoided obesity, the children of neglectful mothers and permissive mothers were twice as likely to get fat.

"The difference between the different parenting groups is pretty striking," said the study co-author, Kay Rhee of Boston University School of Medicine. The study of 872 families appears in the June issue of Pediatrics, released Monday.

Not enough fathers participated in the study to measure their effects on children’s weight, Rhee said.

Rhee speculated that parents who show respect and warmth within a framework of rules might help their children learn to make good decisions about food and exercise. Or, she said, it could be that strict parents create a situation where overeating becomes a comfort and escape.

"Children need adults to set some limits, and as the child matures they need to learn responsibility and self-regulation gradually," said Nancy Krebs, co-chairwoman of the task force on obesity for the American Academy of Pediatrics, who was not involved in the new study.