In Massachusetts, children and adolescents whose mothers follow five healthy habits – eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, keeping a healthy body weight, drinking alcohol in moderation, and not smoking – are 75 percent less likely to become obese when compared with children of mothers who did not follow any such habits. One in five children in the U.S., aged 6-19, have obesity.
The study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health also found that when both mother and child adhered to these habits, the risk of obesity was 82 percent lower compared with mother and children who did not.
“Our study was the first to demonstrate that an overall healthy lifestyle really outweighs any individual healthy lifestyle factors followed by mothers when it comes to lowering the risk of obesity in their children,” said Qi Sun, associate professor in the Department of Nutrition and senior author of the study.