Home and Family Influence on Obesity
In the home, families can contribute to obesity by sliding into poor eating behaviors, discouraging activity by favoring "push-button entertainment," and selecting the least physically challenging mode of transportation within the community. The table below provides a detailed list of factors that contrbute to obesity.
| Factors contributing to intake | Factors contributing to inactivity |
| • Food preparation techniques that add fat | • TV/computer in bedrooms |
| • Food selections brought into the home: low nutrient density, high fat | • Number of hours watching TV/day |
| • Infrequent family meals | • Hours spent at video games or computer |
| • Child not allowed to decide whether or not to eat | • Inability to walk to/from school |
| • Parent–child feeding relationship | • Poor neighborhood safety |
| • Parent food behaviors and dieting | • Number hours inactive during daily routines |
| • Use of sweetened beverages, sodas/soft drinks | • Access to playmates for TV/video/ computer free-play time |
| • Number of hours watching TV/day | • Access to exercise facilities, playgrounds sidewalks, YMCA |
| • Parent's inability to set limits | |
| • Portion size | |
| • Parent's obesity |
Excerpted From:
Excerpt from Food, Nutrition, and the Young Child , by J. B. Endres & R. E. Rockwell & C. G. Mense, 2004 edition, p. 190.
© 2004, Merrill, an imprint of Pearson Education Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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