Pointing the finger of blame at parents for children's weight gain may be unfair, research suggests. It has been thought that parents' feeding patterns are a major factor in whether a child is under or overweight.
But a study suggests parents adapt their feeding styles in line with a child's natural weight and size, which is largely genetically influenced.
The study was carried out by researchers at King's College London and University College London (UCL). The research says that, since the onset of the childhood obesity crisis at the turn of the century, the spotlight has focused on environmental factors for the problem - in the hope of finding solutions.
The study notes that two types of parental feeding styles, in particular, play a role in how parents regulate children's eating habits:
- restriction of food, which is thought to lead to weight gain because children overeat when the restriction is not there (the "forbidden fruit" effect)
- pressure to eat, which is thought to make children with low appetites anxious, and compromise weight gain
But rather than dictate children's habits, the research suggests parents are "responding to their child's emerging characteristics, not simply causing them".
The study is published in PLOS Genetics.
