Setting family rules promotes healthier behavior in children

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-11/iu-sfr111714.php

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 17-Nov-2014

Contact: Milana Katic
Indiana University
Setting family rules promotes healthier behavior in children

Who says your kids don't listen to you?

An Indiana University study has found that setting specific family rules about healthy eating and sedentary behavior actually leads to healthier practices in children.

Data analyzed for the study was originally part of a data set used to evaluate the Wellborn Baptist Foundation's HEROES program, a K-12 school-based obesity prevention initiative set in the Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky tri-state area. However, lead author Alyssa M. Lederer, doctoral candidate and associate instructor in the Department of Applied Health Science at the School of Public Health-Bloomington, was able to use the data to look further into the connection between family rules and sedentary behavior and eating behavior, as well as family rules and weight status.

"Childhood obesity has really become a health crisis, so as researchers we're trying to see what we can do to lessen the toll," Lederer said.

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