The obesity crisis has been in the news a lot recently and it is quite worrying. Apparently 1 in 5 children are already categorised as obese when they start primary school. Rising to 1 in 3 when they start secondary school. It is estimated that at the current rate approximately half of all children will be overweight or obese by 2020.

Obesity can trigger many often fatal conditions later in life including heart disease and strokes, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and cancer.

In a recent study it seems that single child families have the highest rates of obesity, compared to families with 2 or more children. There was also a a higher BMI percentile with the single child families.

A food diary was kept for the children and mothers also kept a diary including meal and drink choices as well as snack foods and exercise. Single children rated lower on all scores including physical activity. A higher amount of mums with one child were overweight compared to mothers of more than one child.

Mums with just one child also tended to be in employment,which is can also be  associated with a child’s weight gain.

This points to healthier eating patterns being developed within families rather than peer pressure. This goes against previous beliefs that pointed to single children being healthier and happier as they have less need to fight for parental attention and also benefit from being in a higher income family.