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Lowering Parents' Stress May Reduce Childhood Obesity Risk
Summary
A randomized study reported that parents who received mindfulness-based stress management plus nutrition and activity education had lower stress, and their young children showed healthier eating and less weight gain compared with an education-only group.
Content
Researchers report that providing parents with stress-management training was linked with healthier eating and less weight gain among young children. The study enrolled 114 parents of children ages 2 to 5 who were already overweight or obese. Parents were assigned to either a mindfulness-based stress-management program integrated with nutrition and physical activity education or to an education-only control group. Outcomes were monitored during the program and for three months after classes ended.
Key findings:
- The trial recruited 114 parents with overweight or obese children ages 2–5.
- One group received mindfulness training combined with healthy nutrition and physical activity education; the control group received only the education component.
- Both groups met weekly for up to two hours over 12 weeks, and researchers tracked parental stress and children's weight during that time and for three months afterward.
- By three months after the classes, only the mindfulness group experienced lower parental stress, improved positive parenting behaviors (such as warmth and patience), and less unhealthy eating among their children.
- Children in the education-only group had a six-fold higher risk of overweight or obesity within three months of the classes, the researchers reported.
- The study and its results were reported March 6 in the journal Pediatrics, and senior researcher Rajita Sinha commented on the findings.
Summary:
The study reported that combining mindfulness-based stress management with nutrition and physical activity education was associated with lower parental stress, improved parenting behaviors, and healthier eating and weight outcomes among young children in the three months after the program. Undetermined at this time.
