Overweight parents have overweight kids

Parents with a high Body Mass Index are more likely to have children who are also overweight.

Moreover, parents' knowledge on dietary issues plays a significant role in determining both the parents' and the child's body weight.

This emerges from a study of 200 three-year-old children and their parents randomly selected from the Maltese public registry list.

The study, authored by Sandra Buttigieg, Judith Townsend and Maria Ellul, was published in the latest edition of the Malta Medical journal.

The study found a higher proportion of overweight and obese children among those whose mothers lacked awareness of health promotion.

Maternal awareness of health promotion on healthy eating appeared to have a protective effect against obesity in three-year-old children.

The study also found that soluble biscuits with artificial milk are introduced at a very early stage of a child's diet, as early as the second month after birth.

The study shows that dairy products are the top choice when it comes to healthy choices. But the study hints that the practice of mixing milk with soluble foods at an early stage and the late use of formula milk could be contributing to child obesity problems.