Children of Divorced Parents Suffer an Increased Risk of Obesity

Children of divorced parents more likely to suffer from obesity, a team of Norwegian researchers reveals.

The new study presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Sofia found that changes in family structure drastically affect a child's weight, according to MedicalXpress.  

The study included 3,166 Norwegian third grade students. As a part of the study the researchers measured their height, weight and waist circumference and this data was then compared to the marital status of the parents.

On analysing the data, the researchers noticed that children of divorced parents were more likely to be obese and overweight than children coming from unbroken homes.

Another study from Norway included 7,915 children from eight different European countries. This study revealed that eating together as a family influenced the healthy eating pattern among children and this allowed the parents to monitor the kind of diet children consumed.

Study author, Dr Froydis Vik, at the University of Agder, in Norway, said: "These results show that having family meals, such as breakfast and dinner may be of importance to a healthy weight status of children. The reason why we see less overweight European children that eat breakfast and dinner together with their parents, may be that these families have a healthier lifestyle and that they have a higher socioeconomic status with regard to education among the parents..."

Based on this the researchers confirm that the risk of obesity in children dropped by 40 percent only when they had breakfast with their parents 5-7 times per week. The risk of obesity in children was 30 percent less if they had dinner with their parents 5-7 times per week. If the children had lunch with their parents they lowered the risk of obesity by 20 percent, reports MedicalXpress.

Even conflicts between parents during mealtime does influence the children's eating habits. According to the Danish researchers, conflicts during mealtime caused pickiness in children of ages 2-6. The children refused to eat certain food as they linked it with the disputes parents had.