Researchers have established a link between childhood obesity and family violence.
If a child's mother is being abused by her partner, that child is more likely to be obese at age five years old, according to a new study from Boston University School of Medicine.
- Renee Boynton-Jarrett studied 1595 children born between 1998 and 2000.
- She tested them at birth and at ages one, three and five-years-old. About half lived in households where their mothers were being abused by their partners.
- After factoring out other issues such as the hours spent watching television, maternal depression, and smoking during pregnancy,
- Dr. Boynton-Jarrett found a higher incidence of obesity among five year-olds whose mothers were being abused.
"Intimate partner violence may influence maternal responsiveness to the socio-emotional needs of the child," according to the report published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. "Witnessing family violence may be associated with emotional distress, and emotion-focused coping using food to self-soothe and address negative emotions."
Labels: families, violence, abuse
Posted By: My Overweight Child
