Parents Corner

Parents often wonder what they can do to help their children have healthy body weights and feel good about their bodies. Researchers within the Division of Epidemiology & Community Health, particularly Drs. Dianne Neumark-Sztainer and Mary Story, are exploring questions such as:

• What can parents do to help prevent or reduce obesity in their children?
• What can parents do to help reduce the psychological and social consequences of being overweight in a thin-oriented society?

Research shows that parents play an important role in helping their children make healthier food choices, be physically active, and avoid unhealthy weight control practices. They may influence their children through their genes, their own behaviors, and their support and encouragement for healthy behaviors. Research suggests that it may be best to “do more and say less.”

For example, providing fruits and vegetables to children as snacks and at meals may be more effective in leading to healthier food choices than talking about the importance of maintaining a healthy weight. Making the home environment one in which healthy choices are the easy choices seems to be the way to go. Look at the information provided on these pages for ideas!

New Moves
Looking for a fun way to help girls learn healthy eating and physical activity habits while improving self-esteem and body image? New Moves is an evidence-based physical education program designed to promote positive self-image, healthy eating, and physical activity in adolescent girls. Click here to find out more about this study.

Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, University of Minnesota OPC member and faculty member in the Division of Epidemiology & Community Health at the School of Public Health, recently published a book entitled "I'm, Like, So Fat" Helping Your Teen Make Healthy Choices about Eating and Exercise in a Weight-Obsessed World.

Dr. Neumark-Sztainer's research led her to create a guide based on four cornerstones for helping teens maintain a healthy weight and feel good about their bodies. Excerpts from the book designed to help parents think aheard about how to respond to common teenage weight-related behaviors and comments can be found here. (Scroll to the bottom to find out more about the "Four Cornerstone" theory.)

Are you hungry for more information? We've compiled some helpful parent resources (websites and books) for those interested in helping children make healthier food choices, lead physically active lifestyles, and avoid the use of unhealthy weight control practices.