Worried your picky eater will grow up to be an unhealthy adult? Stressed that giving your two-year-old a cupcake will give them a sweet tooth for life? Don’t be. Turns out that parenting your infant and toddler a certain way — not what they do or don’t eat — can limit their risk of obesity as they get older.

New research published in JAMA Pediatrics, a medical journal, found that kids are more likely to maintain a healthy weight if their moms and dads use a responsive parenting style when they’re little. Responsive parenting, sometimes called sensitive parenting, is essentially what it sounds like — it means tuning into our children’s physical and emotional needs and responding to those needs with age-appropriate support. Studies have found that responsive parenting can have a positive effect on children’s cognitive development, mental health and social relationships with their peers as well.

The study looked at two groups of first-time mothers and their children, and tracked each child’s body mass index (BMI), which measures weight in relation to height. One group of moms received responsive parenting education for the first two years from nurses and experts, where they were taught how to pay attention and respond to their child’s emotional and physical needs in areas such as feeding, sleep, play and emotional regulation. The control group received education on how to childproof their home. 

The conclusion? Children of the responsive parents had lower average BMI between ages 3 and 9 compared to the control group, lowering their risk of childhood obesity. This was especially true for girls, whose BMI results were one point lower on average than their male counterparts’ (16.3 to 17.3, respectively).

Did you note the “until age 9” part? Yup, this only holds true until a child hits age 9, as researchers found that responsive parenting techniques diminish over time. At this elementary-school age, other factors can affect a child’s BMI too, including what they eat, their activity level and of course, their genetics. So, once your child reaches this pivotal age of tweenhood, researchers stress it’s important to continue to teach healthy habits and reinforce them over time.

Are you surprised by the results of this study?  Do you consider yourself a responsive parent?

Email us or give us a shout on our socials. We’re all ears👂! And if you enjoyed this article, sign up for our weekly newsletter below, with tips, tricks, and trends coming to your inbox every Sunday morning.