Stress Really Does Make You Fat!

Do you have a stressful household? If so, it may be making you – and your children – fat. New evidence from a study of Swedish families indicates that living in a stressful environment can increase your children’s risk of becoming obese. Keep reading for more details on this recent study and helpful ways to avoid and prevent potential stressors in your life.

Living in a highly stressful environment can increase a child’s risk of becoming obese, according to a recent study of Swedish families. The study measured obesity levels in 7,443 families and compared them based on the “stress factor.” The families were separated into two groups. One group of families had low stress levels and the other had fairly high stress levels in their households. It was found that children in households with high stress levels are twice as likely to be obese as children in households with low stress levels.

The study defined sources of stress as being violence, accidents, death, divorce, unemployment, arguments between spouses, and parenting difficulties. While most families are able to come to terms with some stress, those faced with many sources of stress often find themselves overwhelmed. In such families, children are much more likely to become obese.

Think About the Children

Often, when parents are faced with stress, they attempt to hide the fact from their children. Even if the family is in dire trouble, parents will often put on a brave front for the sake of their children. This approach is not helpful for either the parent or the child. Keeping a major source of stress a secret simply makes it more difficult for you to deal with. People dealing with stress in this way often become irritable and short-tempered. And, this type of behavior obviously has a negative impact on children. Children feel the change in their parents’ moods, but have no explanation as to its cause.

Parents are also often reluctant to air their troubles in front of their children. As a result, tensions within the family rise and family members start to drift apart. This can be extremely confusing to a child and, as a result, they may find comfort in other sources such as food. Such emotional eating can often lead to overeating and eventually obesity.

The Right Way to Deal with It

Most situations are only stressful because people do not know how to properly deal with them. A proactive approach to a stressful situation is to let others share in it. Instead of keeping the source of your stress a secret from your child, you should attempt to explain it to them. Whether you are suffering from financial woes, or marital problems, at least your child will have some inkling of what is making you so irritable and angry.

Also, acknowledging a problem is the best way to start dealing with it. Attempting to ignore problems is a sure way to place overwhelming stress on yourself. Eventually, you will find it too heavy a burden to bear and you will suffer for it.

Counseling is another excellent method of reducing stress. Having someone to be the voice of reason to guide you through your most difficult times can be extremely helpful. This takes a lot of the stress out of normally stressful situations.

By following these methods of taking the stress out of situations, you will help to reduce levels of stress and tension in your family and therefore reduce the risk of your child becoming obese. When faced with a stressful situation, the last thing you would want is for it to be the cause of your child becoming overweight.