Troubled Homes May Fuel Obesity in Girls

Study found nearly doubled risk in families coping with poverty, drug abuse, other stress

April 16, 2012 RSS Feed Print

Boys are generally more physically active than girls even at a young age, so all of their running and jumping may help ward off obesity longer. Boys and girls also develop differently, so it's possible that girls are picking up more on maternal worries while boys are paying less attention, making them less vulnerable to it, Suglia said.

"In the domestic violence literature, we've found that girls identify more with the mom more than the boys," Suglia said.

But none of these are proven explanations. Indeed, researchers found that girls who grew up with these psychosocial risk factors were more likely to be obese than kids from more peaceful homes, but not that a difficult home life caused the obesity.

More information

The Annie E. Casey Foundation has more on kids and well-being.