Health / obesity
Bristol Uni research reveals teen obesity patterns
Researchers at Bristol University, using data from over 7,000 parents who took part in the long-running Children of the 90s study, have discovered a link between parents’ mental attitude during pregnancy and weight gain in their children as they reach their teenage years.
The study examined an attribute of personality called the locus of control, a psychological measure for an individual’s attitude to their lifestyle, ranging from believing everything that happens to them is down to luck and circumstance, to taking responsibility for all of their actions.
Professor Jean Golding founded the Children of the 90s project
Researchers found that, at the age of 15, teenagers had an excess weight of 1.7kg if their mothers believed that their actions did not have an influence on their life. This phenomenon was also seen with fathers: a poor attitude from the father could cause an excess weight of 1.49kg when the child is in their teenage years.
is needed now More than ever
The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), also known as Children of the 90s, is a world-leading birth cohort study, charting the health of 14,500 families in the Bristol area. The Children of the 90s project works with researchers all over the world, and all of the pregnant women recruited have been involved ever since.
The lead author of the paper was Children of the 90s study founder, Professor Jean Golding:
“Thanks to the questionnaires and body measurements available through the Children of the 90s study, we’ve been able to show that a lack of self-belief in a parent’s ability to influence change by healthy eating, stopping smoking or breastfeeding is a contributing factor to their child being overweight by the time they are 15.”
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