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“You're Getting Fat”: Childhood Weight Comments and Adult Daughter Satisfaction
Author(s) -
Wansink Brian,
Cristian Daniela,
Warlop Luk
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.957.25
Subject(s) - daughter , snacking , psychology , developmental psychology , weight loss , girl , social psychology , demography , medicine , obesity , endocrinology , evolutionary biology , sociology , biology
Which long‐term impact might parental comments about a daughter's weight have on them as an adult? The current study examines the interplay between parental weight‐related feedback and adult weight status. To explore this, a group of 501 women aged 20–35 completed a survey assessing what comments they recalled their parents making about their weight and eating habits as a child. Their recollection of these comments was regressed upon their current BMI, weight satisfaction, food intake vigilance, and social eating behaviors. Commenting on a daughter's weight is related to long‐term weight dissatisfaction ( p <.001) even if the daughter grows up to be of normal weight ( p < .05). Additionally, the recollection of such comments is associated with daughters having different social behaviors (eating more when alone and changing their eating habits around others) and different food preferences (less adventurous and rather skeptical about new food items). Importantly, all of these findings were significant even after accounting for their parents' concern about their own weight. A parent's comment about their daughter's weight or eating behavior may have a lingering influence long after it is uttered – regardless of whether a girl grows up slim or heavy. It may be that simply creating a home environment that encourages more moderate snacking and serving sizes and promotes healthier dining may be a better path towards a brighter adult relationship with weight and food.