New Study Says Children With No Siblings Are ‘7 Times More Likely To Be Obese’ – CafeMom

Researchers examined data from food diaries kept by 62 mothers with kids between the ages of 5 and 7. These mums kept a record of their daily food logs over the course of three days — two weekdays and one weekend day.

During school hours, however, teachers would keep logs by proxy for any food the children ate.

Mothers also completed the Family Nutrition and Physical Activity questionnaire to evaluate typical family eating behaviors such as food and beverage choice.

Through this, researchers also deduced that mothers of singleton children were more likely to be obese themselves.

Apart from that, the study also found that a singleton’s eating patterns at home had a bigger impact on obesity than those outside home such as at school or nursery.

This goes against the popular belief that external environments play a bigger role in influencing a child’s eating habits. 

In view of the findings, lead author Chelsea L. Kracht urged nutrition professionals to “consider the influence of family and siblings to provide appropriate and tailored nutrition education for families of young children.”