A recent report conducted by Harris Interactive that measured stress levels, coping habits, and other stress-related topics showed that children are suffering more than parents realise and they also recognise that their parents are more stressed than thought.

The study showed that stress is compounding the fact that many families have trouble staying active and living a healthy lifestyle. Emotional eating, sedentary lifestyle, and other less-healthy responses to stress are more common than families would like, and healthy eating and exercise are challenging habits to maintain, especially in the face of stress. This contributes to the negative cycle of overweight and stress. Here are some of the specific findings of the study:

Overweight Adults and Children Feel More Stressed:
The survey results show that children and adults alike who are obese or overweight are more likely to report that they feel stress, and overweight or obese children report that their parents were often or always stressed over the past month.

Overweight Children Worry More:
Children who are overweight are more likely to report they worry a great deal or a lot compared to children of normal weight. Overweight children are also significantly more likely than normal-weight children to report the way they look/their weight as something they worry about.

Overweight Children Often Have Stressed Parents:
Children who believe they are overweight are more likely to report that their parents are stressed out always or often than children who believe they are normal weight.

Children Manage Stress In Less Healthy Ways Have Other Problems:
Children who are overweight are more likely than children who are normal weight to report that in the past month they have experienced physical and emotional symptoms such as trouble falling asleep, headaches, eating too much or too little or feeling angry or getting into fights, all symptoms commonly associated with stress.

Overweight Children More Often Cope in Less Healthy Ways:
Children who are overweight are also more likely than children who are normal weight to report eating or taking a nap to make themselves feel better when they are really worried or stressed about something.

These findings are troubling, but not entirely surprising. So many adults find themselves dealing with emotional eating. We also deal with self-sabotage and have difficulty making healthy habits stick. It’s not surprising that these patterns start earlier than we may realise.