Childhood Obesity: The Family Perspective

Abstract

Childhood obesity remains a poorly understood condition which is difficult to modify. Most investigations and explanations of obesity adopt a biological, psychological, or sociological perspective, with little attention being paid to the family. The work that has been done in this area tends to be based on clinical impression rather than systematic enquiry, and to focus on the mother‐child relationship rather than on the family as a whole. This latter approach, where the family is the basic unit of study, has proved useful in our understanding and treatment of several disorders that can be compared to obesity. This paper argues that the relative absence of family studies constitutes a significant gap in our investigation of childhood obesity. Such studies need to be carried out, but they should also be part of a more holistic approach to the problem, which seeks to make links between the observations made at several different levels of enquiry.

Psychosocial characteristics of obese children/youngsters and their families: implications for preventive and curative interventions

“…However, there seems to be little or no support by empirical studies for the psychosomatic assumptions of Bruch and Minuchin concerning family functioning [38,41]. The majority of the empirical studies, however, are limited by small group sizes and inadequate control groups.…”

Revealing sex differences in childhood obesity by using a family systems approach.

“…In a review of the literature on family factors in childhood obesity (19), we found that there were no satisfactory observational studies of whole families, and that existing studies tended to generalize from findings in individual family members or in the mother-child dyad (3, 22, 29). Studies of psychological variables in groups of obese boys and girls found no significant differences between the sexes.…”

Childhood Obesity in a Chinese Family Context

“…As revealed, obesity is not a priori proof of a dysfunctional system (Harkaway 2000). Thus, we have to ascertain whether childhood obesity is associated with family malfunctioning before proposing family therapy treatment (Loader 1985).…”