Can Maternal Relations affect Obesity in Children?

Our next article touches on a subject near and dear to my heart.  Pediatric obesity is a serious epidemic and is receiving a lot of attention from the medical, academic and policy making communities.  This article is out of Ohio State University, with Dr. Sarah Anderson the lead author of the study.  I found this piece interesting, it also furthered more questions about parental guidance.  Dr. Anderson address the relationships between mother and child and its relation to obesity.  A statement made by Dr. Anderson that initially peaked my interest was,  "Among those toddlers who had the lowest-quality emotional relationships with their mothers, more than a quarter were obese as teens, compared to 13 percent of adolescents who had closer bonds with their mothers in their younger years."  


What this helps me to understand and further appreciate is that there are social influences to health and obesity, especially in the home setting.  Aside from diet and exercise, "bonding" was mentioned as the point of purpose or concern regarding reducing the likelihood of pediatric obesity.  "It is possible that childhood obesity could be influenced by interventions that try to improve the emotional bonds between mothers and children rather than focusing only on children's food intake and activity," said Sarah Anderson, assistant professor of epidemiology at Ohio State University.  


Lets discuss what obesity and emotion have in relation to one another.  When we look at our children today and see the decline that is happening, we can't help but to look at the parents.  Some may blame the society in which they live or the children themselves.  When we look at emotional states and how children are subject to pressures from their peers, pressures from school, home and society, it is no wonder Dr. Anderson looked at the maternal bonds and/or home settings.  Could the question of nature versus nurture be asked regarding pediatric obesity?  Could a mother's love curb poor eating habits or strengthen children emotionally?  To that point, what does emotions have to do with obesity?  


My thought (though rough) is that food has a comforting affect on populations.  I also feel the same way regarding sex, these two aspects are abused in similar fashion.  Food (which is what we'll focus on) is a escape for some, and could be a comforter.  The more stress endured, the more those who use food as a comforter will eat.  It is interesting that the same gland (hypothalamus)  that supports and regulates hunger or appetite also functions for sexual behavior.  I do agree it is rough to draw such correlations, but interesting to think of.  Emotion deals with how we see and feel our experiences, this ties closely with Cognitive Plyometrics in that we need to understand and be knowledgeable about what we experience and properly classify our experiences to get the most out of our lives.  


The bond between mother and child is one no other adhesive or relationship can endure.  If the data and information read in this article are clear indicators to where the prevention may lie, we need to understand how this bond works and its relation to diet and exercise.  The world is ever evolving and our children are experiencing a life we can't quite grasp.  With technology aiding in sedentary habits and food being too accessible and poorer in nutrients.  Children need a haven and a support system that builds them up emotionally, strengthens their confidence and gives them purpose.  If we can agree that love is an action, a commitment, the strongest emotion we can describe or understand.  What will we do, what efforts or lengths will exceed that love and why...  


This article is important because the likelihood of obese children becoming obese adults is great.  If we do not put any efforts into our kids, our society will continue to decline at this alarming rate we see today.  With Type II Diabetes Militus on the rise in adolescent populations with other co-morbidities, we have no choice but to act.  Just as this blog suggests, we need to educate ourselves strengthen the confines of our mind and how we think about matters to ask the more engaging and befitting questions.  It is when we do this, we can get the best answers or ideas to move in the right direction.


This is what I got out of the article, I'd love to hear your view.....  Thanks! 

Fat Finds and Affects Younger Populations...

Here at Movement of the Mind, I like to learn how health affects our lives and how precious our own health is.  With information, we cultivate habits, that will hopefully progress us towards healthier lives.  It is my firm believe that what the mind suggests the body will comply with.  So this week I wanted to share an article I read dealing with obesity and cardio-vasculature disease (CVD)in children.  This article came out of the University of Miami Medical School with the hopes of addressing pediatric obesity in correlation with chronic disease.  I found this interesting, but wanted to think about this in a more critical manner as to further understand why we struggle with this.  As not to beat the dead horse of obesity more, lets get into the article.  Sarah Messiah the lead author in this paper states that, "There's clearly a link between weight and cardiovascular risk", she goes on to draw correlations to the increasing weight gain of children in the research culled from 1999-2008.  Messiah poses the argument that children as young as three years old should be screened for chronic illness like cardio-vascular disease.  As mentioned regarding many chronic disease race, gender and ethnicity play large roles in the matter, as African american and Hispanic children and girls are all more prone to these risk factors than their caucasian counterparts. 


So here is my thought on the matter, as a student of Global Health, I've learned that there are so many factors to health than meets the eye.  For example, a impoverished Hispanic family that eats poorly could be a result of access rather than cost.  Poor health lifestyles (diet and exercise) are more closely associated with lack education than inept habits.  Can it be said, that obesity is bringing on this risk of CVD?  There is research that supports that plaque build up is increased in populations that have poor diets and/or smoke.  Obesity is a strong correlation, but is not causation for this deadly disease.  As we further understand CVD and its affects on our vasculature system, we can ask better questions about how our foods and environments affect our health.  So, could pollution, or stress or the lack of essential nutrients be just as viable a culprit as obesity?  


I find that the issue with diagnosing children who have weight problems with chronic disease is that we are introducing prescription drugs to such a young population and can create harmful and/or damaging effects that could be long lasting.  Though I do agree that pediatric obesity is a serious issue and is continuing to rise, we must look at preventative measures before pharmaceuticals are introduced. 


Heart disease is the lead cause of death in the U.S., so I understand why the emphasis to look for it as early as possible is necessary.  If we look at households with history of CVD and also households that are obese can we prescreen these children and find other factors that may be common (like demographic, ethnicity, diet, activity level, presence of smoking, social stressors and LDL levels) and unearth more indicators that can help reduce those affected by CVD.  


That's what I think, I'd love to hear and learn from you.....  


Thanks!