Most significantly, when children grow up in families with bad
eating habits and sedentary lifestyles dominated by television
watching and video games, they are 33.3 percent more likely to
become overweight or obese as young adults. Bad eating habits
include no parental control over diet and skipping breakfast.
These findings are among others revealed by a new Arizona State
University study on the influence of family environment on
adolescent risk for obesity. The study was presented Aug. 14 at
the American Sociological Association annual meeting in
Philadelphia, Penn. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the
day for weight control," says author Ashley Fenzl Crossman,
graduate teaching assistant in ASU's Department of Sociology.
"And the amount of time spent in sedentary activities is a
strong predictor of weight gain. No surprise." However, a key
finding from the study is that kids don't need to engage in high
levels of physical activity to prevent obesity. Instead,
adolescents who have less time to enga