Parents and teen obesity

Eat healthy and your teen will too

There may be a reason teenagers eat more burgers and fries than fruits and vegetables: their parents. UCLA Center for Health Policy Research researchers found that adolescents are more likely to eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day if their parents do. Contrarily, teens whose parents eat fast food or drink soda are more likely to do the same.

Every day, more than 2 million California adolescents (62%) drink soda and 1.4 million (43%) eat fast food, but only 38% eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables, according to the researchers. But while the proliferation of fast food restaurants is a contributory factor in certain cities and neighborhoods, the data are a reminder that “good dietary habits start at home,” according to center research scientist Susan H Babey. “If parents are eating poorly, chances are their kids are too.”

Among the findings:

• Teens whose parents drink soda every day are nearly 40% more likely to drink soda every day themselves than teens whose parents do not drink soda.
• Teens whose parents eat five servings of fruits and vegetables daily are 16% more likely to do the same than teens whose parents do not eat five servings a day.
• Nearly half of adolescents (48%) whose parents drink soda every day eat fast food at least once a day, while only 39% of teens whose parents do not drink soda eat fast food at least once daily.
• 45% of teens whose parents do not eat five servings of fruits and vegetables daily eat fast food at least once a day, while only 39% of teens whose parents eat five servings a day eat fast food at least once daily.

Getting informed about unhealthy food choices, as well as how to plan and prepare healthier fare, will help you reduce the risk that your teen will be overweight or obese. It isn’t rocket science: we all know what foods are good for us and what foods go straight to the hips!

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