In an Aug. X article on the ScienceDaily website, psychologist Edward Abramson, Ph.D., said that parents can play a pivotal role by ensuring that their children eat a healthy diet and get plenty of exercise:
While everyone, including children, is entitled to have food preferences, infants are born with genetic predispositions toward sweet and salty tastes and against sour and bitter tastes and unfamiliar foods, Abramson said.
"For these children, it may take several repetitions (10 or more) to have a child try a new food, but parents should retreat gracefully and try again another day rather than get into a battle of wills when the child refuses a food," he said. ...
Physical activity can also help prevent obesity even when there is a tendency to gain weight due to genetics, Abramson said. Research has shown that four- to seven-year-old children of active parents were six times as likely to be active [than were children of sedentary parents].
Labels: parenting, causes of childhood obesity, prevention
Posted By: Aspen/CRC
