FOOD AS A REWARD

Giving children food as a reward can lead to lifelong problems with food, weight and self esteem, survey finds

Parents who reward their children with food to soothe them could be setting them up for a lifetime of weight problems, dodgy diets and using food to fill an emotional void, according to new data.

The survey of 2,148 adults, by Slimming World and YouGov, took height and weight details and asked a series of questions to build up a dieting history of respondents. The results suggest that those who recall being given food as a reward in childhood seem to have been caught in a chain of events that had considerable consequences for their weight, wellbeing and future happiness as an adult. The findings are being issued at the start of Slimming World’s 12-week ‘Let’s Beat Obesity Together’ community weight loss campaign, which launches across 7,300 local groups this Monday (February 28) to get people in communities all over the country to work together to help reverse the obesity trend, which is now a worldwide epidemic.

The data revealed that people who were given food as a reward in childhood were far more likely to have an obese BMI of more than 30kg/m² than people who weren’t rewarded with food: 34% compared to 25%.

People who were rewarded with food as children were also significantly more likely to: have a history of dieting that indicates a personal struggle with their weight, have tried extreme weight loss methods like starving themselves or making themselves sick, see food as a preoccupation and a temptation, have low self-esteem, feel unhappy with their weight and eat high calorie foods to help them deal with feelings of stress*.

Dr James Stubbs, award-winning Obesity Researcher for Slimming World, says: “The occasional sweet or treat isn’t going to cause children problems in the future, even if those treats aren’t particularly healthy. It’s when parents repeatedly use high calorie foods as a quick way to appease their children when they’re upset or to quieten them down when they misbehave that they begin storing up future problems for them. In these instances parents can unwittingly create an association in the minds of their children that leads to them using high calorie foods as a way to make themselves feel better right into adulthood, where the link becomes even more deeply ingrained.

“As adults, when we’re feeling down, stressed or lonely we seek comfort where we can. For those who have learned to see high energy foods as a way to calm their mood, their easy availability can lead to comfort foods becoming a frequent source of solace.

“With four out of five people in the UK feeling unhappy about their weight at least some of the time it’s easy to see how for many, indulgence is quickly followed by deep-seated feelings of guilt and shame, as they worry about the impact it will have on their waistline. For those who were rewarded with food in childhood and who remember being overweight from an early age, these feelings of guilt and shame have become even more deeply embedded and even more deeply intertwined with their feelings about food.

“This doesn’t mean it’s all bad news. It’s just that for those of us who struggle with the emotional side of being overweight, the key to losing weight and keeping it off in the long term is not just about changing what we eat. We also need to work through the long held emotional connections that we have with food so we can see that we don’t need to feel ashamed or guilty. This isn’t easy on your own, but sharing ideas and feelings with people who truly understand the issues you face is an effective way to overcome the use of food as an emotional soother and develop a new healthier way of living that’s easier to keep up in the long term.”

The survey also found that many people who were rewarded with food as a youngster have more difficulty in tackling their own children’s weight and eating habits. According to the data they are more likely to see their child as responsible for their own diet and less willing to speak to them about any weight problems they might develop.

Dr Stubbs adds: “A healthy attitude to food (and weight) starts at home with the family, and our published research has found that most mums and dads take the healthy habits they learn in their Slimming World group back home to their children. That’s the power of social networks. We’re also helping more than 10,000 young people aged 11-15 directly each year, guiding them towards healthier, realistic food choices and encouraging them to become more active. We don’t charge young people for attending groups when they come with their parent or guardian, and we’re seeing more and more families coming to group together and finding new ways of living that suit the whole family. Initiatives such as this make a real impact on the community.”

Running between 28 February and 12 March, Let’s Beat Obesity Together is Slimming World’s annual 12-week integrated local community campaign to get people thinking about their own weight, health and happiness and that of their family and loves ones. Last year Slimming World members lost a staggering 193,000st in 12 weeks as part of the campaign.

During Let’s Beat Obesity Together almost 3,000 Slimming World consultants who run 7,300 groups all over the UK will take part in a range of activities; distributing leaflets and posters across the community; running taster and recipe sessions in group; talking to GPs, councillors, schools and MPs about obesity and how Slimming World can work with them; raising debate about obesity in the local media and helping friends and family by inviting them to open sessions in group. In keeping with the community spirit of the campaign, slimmers will also have the opportunity to be sponsored to lose their weight, with all the proceeds going to a local charity voted for by the group.

Participants who join the challenge can get free membership and 2 free weeks when they enrol on the 12 week challenge.

* STATS TABLE showing affect of rewarding children with food on various aspects of their life

		WERE rewarded with food as a child	NOT rewarded with food as a child
BODY MASS INDEX	BMI of 30kg/m² (obese)	27%	21%
	BMI of 40kg/m² (morbidly obese)	7%	4%
WEIGHT IN CHILDHOOD	Overweight since childhood	25%	6%
	Overweight since teenage years	20%	7%
	Blame upbringing for weight	14%	3%
	Think obesity is in the genes	33%	20%
DIETING HISTORY	‘Always’ on a diet	12%	5%
	Bought slimming pills over the Internet	5%	2%
	Tried starving themselves to lose weight	13%	6%
	Tried making themselves sick to lose weight	6%	1%
FEELINGS ABOUT FOOD	Feel that high calorie foods help them deal with stress	77%	59%
	See food as a friend or an enemy	33%	17%
	Think about food constantly	14%	5%
SELF ESTEEM	‘Always’ feel unhappy with their weight	19%	10%
	Have low self esteem	18%	9%
OWN CHILDREN’S DIET	Wouldn’t tell their own children if they thought they had a weight problem	63%	54%
	Thinks their children are responsible for own diet	11%	4%
RELATIONSHIPS	Have stayed in an unhappy relationship because they were worried they wouldn’t find someone else	26%	16%
	Think their relationship would be happier if they were happier with weight	50%	29%
CAREER	Think their appearance has prevented them from getting a job in the past	13%	3%
	Think they would be more successful in their career if they were slimmer	22%	8%

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For more information on this press release or Slimming World’s Let’s Beat Obesity Together community weight loss campaign please call 01773 546101 or email public.relations@slimming-world.com

Notes to Editors

• Let’s Beat Obesity Together 2011 is Slimming World’s nationwide community weight loss campaign. Running for 12 weeks from w/c 28 February to w/e 23 May, it will bring GPs, hospitals, schools, workplaces and other community groups together to tackle obesity as a community. For more information on the campaign please contact public.relations@slimming-world.com
• The National Slimming Survey 2010 asked  2,184 people a series of questions about their weight, eating habits, feelings about food, health, physical activity, family, relationships and career to build a comprehensive of obesity in the UK.
• Slimming World is the largest and most advanced slimming organisation in the UK. Margaret Miles-Bramwell (OBE, FRSA) founded the company in 1969 and there are now more than 7,000 groups held weekly nationwide via a network of 2,700 Slimming World trained Consultants.
• 400,000 members attend Slimming World every week and achieve outstanding success.
• Members lose 17,857 stones every week: 2,551 stones every day, over 106 stones every hour, that’s 1stone 10 lbs lost every minute of every day with Slimming World.
• Slimming World pioneered referral schemes in the UK and actively supports the building of partnerships with the NHS and local authorities to develop effective strategies to manage overweight and obesity in the community. Slimming World works with university researchers and specialists in an active research programme to further knowledge of the causes and treatment of obesity.
• Slimming World’s healthy eating plan, Food Optimising, and the principles behind Slimming World’s philosophy are based on a deep understanding of the challenges faced by overweight people. Slimming World integrates practical, up-to-date dietary advice with a highly developed support system.

Slimming World Consultants receive specific training in dietary aspects and the role of physical activity in weight control. The highly developed training focuses on facilitating behaviour change in a group environment, acknowledged by experts as being the most effective way to support long-term weight management.