Study finds controlling moms don’t cause weight gain

A new study by a Brown University researcher has found that mothers who are strict about their children’s eating habits, controlling how much and what they eat when they’re small, aren’t setting their children up to gain weight later on, as some experts had suggested.
The study, published online in the journal Obesity, finds instead that mothers’ controlling behaviors may be triggered by concerns about kids’ actual weight gains.
In that sense, said lead author Dr. Kyung E. Rhee, “some degree of control may actually be beneficial in helping certain children maintain their weight.”
Rhee is a researcher with the Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center at The Miriam Hospital, a pediatrician with Hasbro Children’s Hospital and an assistant professor of pediatrics at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
Her study looked at data on 789 children who participated in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development’s Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. The group included almost equal numbers of girls and boys, which Rhee and her colleagues said is significant, since many prior studies have only focused on girls.
Child heights and weights were obtained at ages 4, 7 and 9, and changes in body mass index (BMI) were measured between 4 and 7 years and 7 and 9 years. Maternal feeding practices were measured at each age interval by asking moms, “Do you let your child eat what he/she feels like eating?”
Previous studies have linked controlling or restrictive feeding practices with disinhibited eating, increased caloric intake and excessive weight gain. But this study didn’t find a link between more-controlling feeding practices and later child weight gain.
However, the study did find gender differences. In boys, increases in restrictive feeding practices between the ages of 4 and 7 were associated with a decreased risk of increased BMI by ages 7 to 9. In girls, meanwhile, the study found that when moms saw their daughters gain significant amounts of weight between ages 4 and 7, they became more controlling.
“Our findings mirror those of other studies that have found that parents are much less likely to recognize or be concerned about the overweight status of sons compared to daughters,” said Rhee. “These behaviors may represent a sensitivity to societal values that girls should be slim while boys have a physical or social advantage in being larger.”
Based on the findings, the study suggests some restrictions may be good for children, but Rhee said more research is needed on how best to control children’s eating.
The study was supported by grants from the Hasbro Pediatric Research Fund and the American Heart Association. Co-authors include Sharon Coleman and Danielle P. Appugliese from the Boston University School of Public Health; Julie C. Lumeng, Niko A. Kaciroti and Natalie Davidson from the University of Michigan; Robert F. Corwyn from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and Robert H. Bradley from the University of Arizona.
The Miriam Hospital, part of the Lifespan health system, is affiliated with The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
For more information, go to www.miriamhospital.org.