Mothers who diet are almost twice as likely to have daughters who suffer from an eating disorder, researchers have claimed.The majority of teenagers in a survey said they felt damaged by the effects of their mother’s dieting and views on food and regarded their mothers as the biggest influence on their own self-image.
The survey of girls aged 12 to 18 found that six per cent of them had an eating disorder – a proportion that rose to one in ten among those whose mothers diet.
The poll revealed that more than half – 51 per cent – of teenage girls surveyed have dieted at some stage.
Again, this increased to 59 per cent among girls whose mothers diet, while almost eight out of 10 girls worry about their weight and one in five said they are criticised by family members for being ‘too big’.
Annabel Brog, editor of teen magazine Sugar, which carried out the poll, said girls were heavily influenced by their family’s views on diet and food, which she described as their ‘thin-heritance’.
Commenting on the results of the survey, psychologist Amanda Hills said: ‘Children learn how to behave by watching their parents.
‘Food becomes an issue when mum isn’t sitting down to dinner with everyone else or is off preparing a separate meal for herself. And a dieting parent will label certain foods as ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’, which can lead to an unhealthy approach to food. The ‘drip-drip’ effect of constant self-criticism in front of easily-influenced teens teaches them to do likewise. If mum’s calling herself fat, it won’t be long before her daughter is too. I would say at least half of the people I see with an eating disorder admit that there are problems with eating in the family.’
Post published in: Analysis