Temple University Study Will Determine If Mothers’ Dieting Behavior Impacts Their Children

Researchers at Temple University in Philadelphia are embarking on a study to determine if mothers who diet have an impact on the eating habits and weight of their children.

Katherine W. Bauer, an assistant professor of public health in Temple’s College of Health Professions and Social Work and the study’s lead researcher, states, “Mothers serve as gatekeepers to healthy opportunities at home. For example, mothers are often responsible for grocery shopping and what food is brought into the home.”

Researchers will be exploring whether working directly with mothers to help them eat better and take care of themselves will have a trickle-down effect on their preteen and teenage children, perhaps preventing future obesity among these children. “With this study, we are saying to moms, ‘do something for yourself; take care of your health,’ which mothers don’t usually do,” Dr. Bauer said. “Take time to get yourself healthy and perhaps it will have a positive effect on your children.”

Dr. Bauer is a graduate of Oberlin College in Ohio. She holds a master’s degree from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in epidemiology from the University of Minnesota.