[WATCH]: Parents' role in their children's weight - Boston Children's Hospital - Top 20 Health Challenges

Apart from the genetic component of childhood obesity, what do we know about parents' role in influencing their children's weight? Parents can play an essential role through two key practices: "Protecting the home environment" and "Modeling." Protecting the home environment simply means that if it doesn't support health, don't bring it into the home. Go out for an ice cream once in a while and make it a celebration. But remember: you can say no once to your child when she asks you to buy a carton of ice cream in the supermarket, or you can try to say no every night, if the carton is sitting in the freezer. Modeling is the natural way that children learn from their parents. Research shows that if parents eat right and get active, so

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