Children whose parents promoted a healthy lifestyle within the family showed a reduction in their degree of obesity.
- An improvement in weight and a reduction in the degree of obesity were observed in all children who participated in the study.
- However, better results were achieved by young people whose parents received parental support and telephone calls as part of the follow-up.
- This type of approach allowed parents to promote a healthy lifestyle within the family in a positive and conflict-free way.
In France, 4% of children and adolescents are obese. According to the World Health Organization, the rate of childhood obesity has doubled worldwide over the past thirty years. As a reminder, this disease can lead to serious complications (hypertension, stroke, diabetes, osteoarthritis, etc.) in adulthood. Therefore, it is essential to act quickly to prevent these complications. According to researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, treating this chronic disease from an early age would have a lasting effect both in the short and long term.
Promote a healthy lifestyle within the family
For the purposes of their research, the scientists followed more than 170 young Swedish children who had been diagnosed with obesity. Children and their parents were randomly assigned to either standard treatment, a parent support group, or a parent support group with telephone follow-up. Members of the first group participated in meetings focused on diet and physical activity with a doctor, pediatrician and/or dietitian. Both support groups focused on how parents could promote a healthy lifestyle within the family in a positive, conflict-free way. “Such conversations can focus on how to set limits, teach children new behaviors, and communicate with preschools, grandmothers, neighbors, and other adults around children”has explained Paulina Nowickamain author of the work.
Obesity: better results thanks to parental support and regular monitoring
The results, published in the journal International Journal of Obesityshowed an improvement in weight in all children and a reduction in their degree of obesity, but particularly in those whose parents received parental support and telephone follow-up. “We also found that more children in the third group had a clinically significant improvement in their weight status associated with better metabolic health,” added the researcher.
According to Paulina Nowicka, most parents know what kind of food they should give their children. “But what should we do with a child who loves to eat and always wants to eat, or with a child who is always hungry? How can we go about it without making food a taboo? We must try to build a clear structure at home, a structure that lets the child know that the meal is coming and that he is going to eat dinner. But we also need to do things together to strengthen family bonds, such as involving the child in the kitchen, giving him vegetables if he has hunger and not reward it with food. It is also important to ensure that food is not associated with emotions and success.”
