The apple doesn't fall far from the tree -- especially when it comes to being overweight.
A new study at the University of Michigan (UM) may help parents understand their role in their children's weight problems. Researchers compared the weight of 1,993 newborns at birth and adolescence to that of their parents at both stages. Their results, recently published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, indicate that large newborns are 5.7 times more likely to become overweight adolescents when raised by habitually overweight parents than by thin parents.
According to study author A. Roberto Frisancho, Ph.D., a UM anthropology professor, the results contradict advice against gaining too much weight during pregnancy. "Low birthweight babies are not as healthy as fat babies," he explains. But he emphasizes the importance of post-delivery health. "The whole family environment contributes to whether a growing child will become a fat teenager," Frisancho says. "Otherwise, it's a thin chance in a fat world."
