Childhood overweight dependence on mother-child relationship

The causes of childhood overweight are
numerous and inter-related. The mother-child
relationship is of great significance for the
child’s health. Previous studies have found
patterns of dysfunctional interaction in families
with obese children. Therefore, development
of childhood overweight could be due to
the mother-child relationship. The aim of this
study was to investigate how, and to what
degree, the mother-child relationship,
assessed by the mothers, was related to overweight
among children aged seven to nine
years. The study was a cross sectional casecontrolled
one. It included 111 overweight and
149 non-overweight seven to nine year old
children and their mothers. Weight status was
determined according to the International
Obesity Task Force reference for children Body
Mass Index, age and gender adjusted. An interviewer-
administered questionnaire was used
to categorize the mother-child relationship as:
complementary, asymmetrical, symmetrical or
symbiotic prototypes. There was no difference
in mother-child relationships – characterized
and non-overweight mother-child pairs.
Therefore, we conclude that the mother-child
relationship has no bearing on the child’s
weight status according to the prototypes. It is
suggested that it is more the culture, or the
universal phenomenon of expressing love
through food, than the mother-child relationship,
which influences the development of
childhood overweight, or that the mothers are
not capable of assess the true attachment style
between themselves and their children.