Study: Do Parents Help or Hurt Their Overweight Children?

From the June issue of Pediatrics, the peer-reviewed, scientific journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics ... comes a study about the effect of parents on their overweight children.

Read the study summary below and post what you think!
"Obesity among children is a growing public health concern, given the physical and psychological consequences associated with excess body weight. The study, “Accurate Parental Classification of Overweight Adolescents’ Weight Status: Does It Matter?” determined that parents need to talk less and do more when it comes to weight-related matters.

Parents who recognized that their teenage children were overweight did not do “healthy things” at home to help their children with healthy weight management such as having more fruits and vegetables available. Rather, the only behavior that they did more frequently was to encourage their children to diet, which was not helpful to weight management over a five-year period, in fact it predicted poorer weight outcomes (i.e., increased weight gain), particularly in girls.
The study authors suggest placing less emphasis on getting parents of overweight children to correctly classify their children as overweight and more emphasis on helping all parents provide a healthy home environment, which is supportive of healthy eating and physical activity, for their children."
Source: Pediatrics.
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STUDY: Low Birth Weight Associated with Autism, Especially in Girls

From the June issue of Pediatrics, the peer-reviewed, scientific journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics ... comes a new study about autism.

"Low birth weight was associated with a 2.3-fold increased risk for autism, with the strongest association seen among low birth weight girls.

In the study, “Birth Weight and Gestational Age Characteristics of Children With Autism, Including a Comparison With Other Developmental Disabilities,” researchers examined the records of 565 children with autism born in Atlanta, Ga., from 1986 to 1993, and matched them to a control group. They found the risk for autism was consistently higher for low birth weight girls than for low birth weight boys.

For all low birth weight children, the risk of cerebral palsy, mental retardation, hearing loss or vision impairment was higher than the risk of autism.

Researchers hypothesize that some girls are more likely than boys to require a prenatal insult, such as reduced growth or preterm birth, in the causal pathway leading to autism."

Source: Pediatrics

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