Reserchers warn obese parents

Study published in the July issue of Journal of Pediatrics claims that obese parents are likely to have overweight children. The results come from almost 10 years of research work. And they also allow to make some connections between obesity and temper in children.

The study of 150 children from birth to age 5 found 64 percent of the children with obese parents became overweight, compared with 16 percent of children with normal-weight parents.

While overweight parents were most likely to have overweight children, researchers also found a link between frequent temper tantrums and childhood obesity. That is, children who threw persistent tantrums over food from ages 2-5 were three times more likely to be overweight than kids who did not often throw tantrums.

Researchers speculate that parents use food bribes to calm upset kids. "Parents aren't doing their kids any justice" by doing so, says lead study author Dr. W. Stewart Agras, professor emeritus of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University.

Additionally, the authors determined children who took shorter or fewer daytime naps from the ages of 2-5 years were also more likely to be overweight, possibly due to less energy to burn off calories.