Daily HealthBeat Tip

Nurturing better health

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I�m Mike Robinson with HHS HealthBeat.

Parents who weigh in on their own as well as their child�s health are more likely an influence on whether their children become overweight or obese.

An Arizona State University study discovered households turning a blind eye to poor eating habits and non-active lifestyles led to a greater risk obesity for growing children -some 33.3 of children in these households were likely to become overweight or obese as young adults.

While race and family income levels were found to have very little impact on children�s weight, parental nurturing of their self-esteem was found to have a greater influence toward their better eating and exercising habits.

"Parents should exert control over a child's diet, especially making a healthy breakfast a priority. And also they should limit the amount of free time children have to spend on sedentary activities, such as watching TV and playing video games." (16 seconds)

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: November 1, 2005

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