Fathers have key role in developing healthy behaviours

A new study performed at the University of Guelph found that parents, and especially fathers, play a key role in developing healthy behaviours and preventing obesity in young adults. The study involved over 6,000 participants, aged between 14 and 24. The researchers noted that adolescents who grew up in stable families were more likely to have a healthy lifestyle and were less likely to be obese. Interestingly, they found that the mother-son relationship did not matter as much as the father-son relationship when it came to predicting whether the young male would be overweight or obese.

The authors are now hoping to develop strategies to help fathers support the development of health behaviours in their children, however more research is needed to explore the mechanisms by which this relationship operates, and to compare why this does not seem to be the case with the mother-daughter or mother-son relationship.