Teenagers who think their mothers put a
high value on thinness may be more likely to worry about
their weight and frequently diet, new research suggests.
The study, of more than 9,200 U.S. teenagers and their
mothers, found that those who believed their weight was
important to their mothers were more likely than other
teens to be preoccupied by their weight and to diet repeatedly.
The findings highlight the importance of parents' words
and actions in their children's body image, according
to Dr. Alison E. Field of Children's Hospital Boston and
Harvard Medical School.
Although parents are right to want their children to
have a healthy weight, it's also important that they not
put too much value on thinness, she stated. They can serve
as good role models, she said, by making changes in their
own diets and taking up exercise for the sake of their
overall health -- and not just for trimming their waistlines.
"Parents should also be aware of the comments they make
about their own weight and other people's," Field said.
Such general attitudes about weight, she noted, can affect
their children's perceptions of their own bodies.
Field and her colleagues report their findings in the
December issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent
Medicine.
The study included 5,331 girls and 3,881 boys ages 12
to 18 who answered questionnaires about their weight concerns
and what they thought about their mothers' attitudes toward
weight. Mothers were asked about their attitudes toward
their own weight and their children's.
Overall, one-third of girls and 8 percent of boys said
they "thought frequently about wanting to be thinner."
Girls who thought their mothers wanted them to be thin
were two to three times more likely to worry about getting
thinner. A similar trend was seen among boys.
Moreover, teenagers who thought their weight was important
to their mothers were more likely than their peers to
repeatedly diet.
One of the most interesting findings, Field said, was
that mothers were more likely than their children to be
preoccupied with their own weight. About 54 percent said
they thought about wanting to be thinner "a lot or always."
And their teenagers may have been picking up on some of
these concerns.
"Parents should try to work on their own issues regarding
their weight," Field said, "not only for themselves, but
to make sure they're sending appropriate messages to their
children."
SOURCE: Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine,
December 2005.
