Children with strict parents tend to be obese: Study

A new study has found that your parenting style can have an impact on your child's weight, and strict parents make their kid pack on the pounds.

Researchers followed a nationally representative group of 37,577 Canadian children aged 0 to 11.

They compared kids whose parents are generally affectionate, have reasonable discussions about behavior with their child and set healthy boundaries (authoritative) with those whose parents were strict about limits without much dialogue or affection (authoritarian).

The latter group had a 30 percent higher chance of being obese among kids 2 to 5 years old and a 37 percent higher chance among kids 6 to 11 years.

Lisa Kakinami, a post-doctoral epidemiologist at McGill University in Montreal, said that parents should at least be aware of their parenting style, and if they are treating their child with a balance of affection and limits - these are the kids who are least likely to be obese.

Researchers compared parents' answers to a cross-sectional survey. They then categorized parenting styles and analyzed them with respect to children's body mass index (BMI) percentile.

Exploring factors at home that may be fueling this public health concern could lead to better prevention and interventions, Kakinami said.