New study finds obesity in kids is linked to mums' own weight

When it comes to your child’s weight, your own weight and lifestyle really matter – that’s what a new study has found. 

The report, by the British Medical Journal, assessed more than 24,000 children of more than 16,000 nurses in the 1990s. The researchers specifically looked at children who were not obese before the age of nine and then looked at their weight when they were 14.

What they found was that the risk of becoming obese was lower in children whose mums did not smoke, took at least 150 minutes a week of exercise and only consumed alcohol in moderation, and genetics did not play a big part.

As a result, children of mums who were not overweight had a 75 per cent less chance of not putting on too many kilos between the age of nine and 14.

In a nutshell, researchers found that if you have a healthy lifestyle, your children are more likely to develop one too.

Dr. Kelly Thorstad, a pediatrician told mystatesman.com that the study shows it’s not just about genetics.

“I think children learn what they live,” she says. “Having parents that have a healthy lifestyle that have a healthy weight … it will be good for the family.”

She encourages families to make small changes like going for a walk at night as a family. She also encourages parents to not single out the kid who is obese from the rest of the family.

“For children to make big changes, it’s a family thing,” she says. “It’s not just the mother’s healthy lifestyle, it’s everyone in the family.”