This is how diet quality of parents, kids are connected

Researchers from the University of Delawar have predicated a close relationship between diet quality of parents and kids.

In this study, researchers have suggested a lesser-known corollary, "Your kids are what you eat."

In a new analysis of parent-child diet quality and calories consumed, a team of researchers found the two are related in significant ways, a connection that could lead to better strategies, which could help to address the growing public health problems of obesity and related conditions such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than a third of U.S. adults are obese and about seventeen percent of the nation's youth (ages 2-19) are obese.

Shannon Robson, assistant professor of behavioral health and nutrition and study's lead author said, unfortunately people are not doing very well in terms of diet quality. Parents had better diet quality than kids, but only by a little bit.

The researchers found the two clear culprits for poorer diet quality among children, too few vegetables and too many empty calories.

Researchers said the data were limited by several factors, with particular mention of ethnic and/or racial diversity among participants. Most participating parents were mothers and researchers said some bias might be a factor in how parents report data for their children.

The study is published in Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.