Email  Print

The Power of a Mother’s Love

Hugs, kisses and communication can go a long way toward beating the obesity epidemic plaguing America’s youth.

In a study supported by the National Institutes of Health and published last month in the journal Pediatrics, researchers analyzed national data detailing relationship characteristics between mothers and their children during their toddler years. The results? The lower the quality of the relationship between a child’s emotional security and the mother’s sensitivity, the higher the risk that a child would be obese at age 15.

Toddlers who had the lowest-quality emotional relationships with their mothers were almost 2.5 times as likely to be obese as adolescents than children who had the best relationships with their mothers. More than 26 percent of them became obese, compared to 13 percent of adolescents who had close bonds with their moms.

Researchers believe the findings may have a basis in the dramatic brain development that takes place by age 5. There may be a link between the areas of the brain that control emotions and stress responses and the areas that control appetite and energy, increasing the likelihood that a child who is not nurtured warmly will be obese.

The researchers say these findings suggest a need for enhanced efforts to stop the obesity epidemic. 

“It is possible that childhood obesity could be influenced by interventions that try to improve the emotional bonds between mothers and children rather than focusing only on children’s food intake and activity,” says Sarah Anderson, assistant professor of epidemiology at Ohio State University and lead author of the study. The researchers, however, don’t put the blame on parents. “The sensitivity a mother displays in interacting with her child may be influenced by factors she can’t necessarily control. Societally, we need to think about how we can support better-quality maternal-child relationships because that could have an impact on child health.”

So, how does a parent know if they are connecting correctly? In clinical terms, maternal sensitivity refers to a mother’s ability to recognize her child’s emotional state and respond with comfort, consistency and warmth. Psychologists describe securely attached children as those who rely on their parents as a “safe haven,” which allows them to explore their environments freely, adapt easily to new people, and be comforted in stressful situations.

In other words, positive parenting that includes loving hugs, kisses and consistency can go a long way.

This article is brought to you in partnership with Red River Family Magazine and Success By 6.