June Summary

            A child’s health is extremely influenced by their parents’ habits. More often than not we think of the mother having the largest impact on her child compared to the father but when it comes to diet, physical activity, and BMI, research has shown a different story. This information is crucial for healthcare workers to consider when creating interventions to stop childhood obesity. It is also an important factor when deciding which parent to target in the prevention or treatment plan. Recent research has shown that fathers who were involved in their child’s health care were open to advice regarding their child’s health habits but often felt left out or completely ignored by the physician (Lowenstein et al., 2013). The following studies described found significant correlations between the father’s health habits and their children suggesting the father’s role in his child’s health needs to be better assessed.

            One of the first studies to research the relationship between a father and child’s weight status was conducted in Australia (Freeman et al., 2012). The research was a longitudinal study that looked at two parent households. The parents’ and child’s height and weight were measured in 2004 and then again four years later. BMI was used to classify the child and parent as either healthy weight, overweight, or obese. The study found that having two overweight parents was predictive of the child becoming overweight and having two obese parents was a strong predictor for childhood obesity. More differences were discovered when only one parent was overweight or obese. In cases where the father was overweight and the mother was at a healthy weight, the odds of the child becoming obese 4 years later increased by 318%. If the father was obese the odds increased by 1388%. While the evidence showed the fathers’ weight as a predictor the reverse, a mother being overweight/obese and the father being at a healthy weight, was not (Freeman et al., 2012).

            The research completed by Freeman et al. was used in another study that looked to see if there were similar trends between fathers and their children in the United States that were seen in Australia. The study examined diet quality, BMI, and physical activity in fathers and their preschool-aged children (Vollmer, Adamsons, Gorin, Foster, & Mobley, 2015). The study had a diverse sample and used an age group of children that is not studied often, ages 3-5 years old. The results revealed significant positive relationships between father child weight status, overall diet quality, and vigorous physical activity.  These findings supported what was shown in Australian research and justify that fathers should be included in obesity prevention/treatment plans (Vollmer et al., 2015).

            After reviewing the literature it is apparent that fathers have a larger role in shaping their children’s health habits than expected. Now that there is evidence to support the father’s influence the next step in research is to understand why that is and how their impact can be used to help prevent/treat childhood obesity.

AND article-

Vollmer, R. L., Adamsons, K., Gorin, A., Foster, J. S., & Mobley, A. R. (2015). Investigating the relationship of body mass index, diet quality, and physical activity level between fathers and their preschool-aged children. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 115(6), 919-926.

Link: http://www.andjrnl.org/article/S2212-2672(14)01811-5/abstract

Supplemental articles-

Freeman, E., Fletcher, R., Collins, C., Morgan, P., Burrows, T., & Callister, R. (2012). Preventing and treating childhood obesity: Time to target fathers. International Journal of Obesity, 36, 12-15.

Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22005717

Lowenstein, L. M., Perrin, E. M., Berry, D., et al. (2013). Childhood obesity prevention: Fathers’ reflections with healthcare providers. Child Obesity, 9(2), 137-143.

Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23472966