What is a family’s role in childhood obesity?

Some facts you should know

• Studies show that a child with one obese parent is two and a half times more likely to become obese and a child with two obese parents is four times more likely to become obese.
• Girls born to obese mothers are ten times more likely to become obese. Boys born to obese fathers are six times more likely to become obese.
• Studies show that children of average weight parents are two and a half times more likely to be obese if their grandparents are obese.
• The Early Bird Diabetes Study found that a child’s excess weight is determined by five years of age.
• True or false: Genetics is the main cause for childhood obesity.
  False: Genetics likely only contributes 20% to obesity.
• Studies show that the most successful treatment against childhood obesity must be a comprehensive program encompassing lifestyle change through addressing education in nutrition, behavior, and physical fitness.
• A study in the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity evaluating parents as mediators of change with regard to childhood obesity compared three educational models: one where children only attended sessions, one where parents and children attended together, and one where parents went alone.
  Classes which parents attended alone (without their children) proved to be the most effective treatment for dealing with childhood obesity!

Children learn from the adults around them