If it's in the house, parents will eat it

Studies suggest that obesity is a family problem. But it’s not just parents who set the menu — kids have an influence too. Parents who give in to their kids’ requests for fatty foods, such as pizza, usually end up indulging with them, according to a study appearing in the Jan. 4 online edition of the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. Compared with adults living without children in the home, adults living with kids younger than 17, on average, take in an additional 4.9 grams of fat daily. And 1.7 grams of that additional fat is saturated fat — the artery-clogging kind of fat that abounds in many meat and dairy products, processed foods and meals taken out from fast-food joints and eaten in restaurants.

The latest research is one of a raft of new studies that look at how family dynamics affect an individual's propensity to become overweight. In consumer studies, parents routinely cite their children as key drivers of snack food choice, home menu selection and restaurant visits. Perhaps, the authors suggest, the nation's epidemic of overweight and obesity should be approached by looking at how children form their food preferences and how those preferences influence their parents' decisions about what to buy and consume.

"Kids can be very persuasive" in coaxing their parents and guardians into buying the fatty, sugary and salty foods that are overwhelmingly marketed to them, the researchers says. "We've all been there. But as parents, we have to think twice about buying these foods for our kids," he adds. "That they can make kids fat and start them down the road toward obesity is reason enough. They can also be very tempting for us as adults."

Courtesy of LA Times

Bonnie - this is so true. This an extremely important part of keeping a healthy lifestyle at home. Caving in to your child's food request is even worse because you are not only contributing to their poor health, but to your own. My suggestion...stay strong and committed to keeping good food at home. The easiest thing to do is to not keep the junk at home so it is not available. If your child is eating at least two healthy meals per day from home, it is better than none!