研究表明，獨生子女更有可能肥胖

研究表明，獨生子女更有可能肥胖

Only children may be at a higher risk for obesity than children who have siblings, according to a new study published Wednesday.

周三發(fā)布的一項新研究表明，獨生子女可能比有兄弟姐妹的孩子更容易肥胖。

The study looked at the eating habits and body weight of only children , and found they had less healthy eating habits and beverage choices than families with multiple children.

研究人員對獨生子女的飲食習慣和體重進行了調(diào)查，發(fā)現(xiàn)與有多個孩子的家庭相比，獨生子女的飲食習慣和飲料選擇更不健康。

While the sample size was small and the study could not establish cause and effect, it does "raise an interesting point that we need to better understand," said pediatrician Dr. Natalie Muth, who chairs the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Obesity.

美國兒科學會肥胖癥部主任、兒科醫(yī)生納塔利·穆特說，雖然樣本量很小，研究也無法確定因果關(guān)系，但它確實“提出了一個我們需要更好理解的有趣觀點”。

"Several studies in addition to this one have shown that only children are more likely to have overweight or obese," said Muth, who was not involved in the study.

穆特說:“除了這一項，還有幾項研究表明獨生子女更有可能超重或肥胖。”他沒有參與這項研究。

"Why is that? While this study doesn't provide the answer to that question, it is helpful in building the body of research that eventually will provide clearer answers," Muth said.

“這是為什么呢?雖然這項研究沒有為這個問題提供答案，但它有助于建立研究體系，最終提供更清晰的答案，” 穆特說。

What it means to be an 'only'

成為“唯一”意味著什么

Singletons have long fascinated researchers. Early studies falsely believed about only children, like the idea that a child would become headstrong, selfish, egocentric, competitive, excessively spoiled and unable to share. Or, that most would likely turn into self-absorbed hypochondriacs.

研究人員對獨生子女一直很著迷。早期的研究錯誤地認為獨生子女，會變得任性，自私，以自我中心，好勝，過度溺愛和無法（與人）分享?；蛘撸蠖鄶?shù)人會變成自戀型患者。

"A lot of people assumed only children are defective, and so a lot of research has been done on achievement and personality," said Toni Falbo, a psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin who has researched singletons since the 1980s.

德克薩斯大學奧斯汀分校的心理學家托尼·法爾博說，“很多人認為獨生子女是有缺陷的，所以已經(jīng)做了很多關(guān)于成就和性格的研究。”自20世紀80年代以來，他一直在研究獨生子女。

In 1986, Falbo did a meta-analysis of 200 studies on only children and found they excelled in achievement, intelligence and character over children with siblings -- especially those with older brothers or sisters.

1986年，法爾博分析了200項關(guān)于獨生子女的研究，發(fā)現(xiàn)獨生子女在成就、智力和性格方面都優(yōu)于有兄弟姐妹的孩子，尤其是那些有哥哥或姐姐的孩子。

"On average, only children get more education and they score higher on various achievement tests," Falbo said. "On personality achievements, they're doing fine. They have reasonably positive personalities and they're not prone to mental illness any more so than anyone else."

法爾博說:“平均而言，獨生子女接受了更多的教育，他們在各種成績測試中得分更高。”“在個性成就方面，他們做得很好。他們有相當積極的個性，他們比其他人更不容易患精神疾病。”

The only difference her analysis found was that singletons appeared to have stronger bonds with their parents than children with siblings, a finding that was later supported by a 2018 study of 10,000 German schoolchildren.

她的分析發(fā)現(xiàn)的唯一不同是，獨生子女與父母的關(guān)系似乎比有兄弟姐妹的孩子更緊密，這一發(fā)現(xiàn)后來得到了2018年一項對1萬名德國學童的研究的支持。

Connection to obesity

與肥胖的聯(lián)系

Over the last few decades, however, studies in Europe and China began to look at a link between weight gain and being an only child; some also looked at birth order.

然而，在過去的幾十年里，歐洲和中國的研究開始關(guān)注體重增加和獨生子女之間的聯(lián)系;一些人還研究了出生順序。

The single-child policy in place in China between 1980 and 2016 gave researchers a gold mine of data. For example, one study of nearly 20,000 Chinese singletons found only sons in urban China were 36% more likely to be overweight and 43% more likely to be obese than sons who had siblings.

1980年至2016年中國實施的獨生子女政策為研究人員提供了大量數(shù)據(jù)。例如，一項針對近2萬名中國獨生子女的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，在中國城市，獨生子比有兄弟姐妹的兒子超重的可能性高36%，肥胖的可能性高43%。

Other studies found being an only or last-born child was associated with obesity, possibly due to the ways that parents behaved during mealtimes: less praise, more association with food as a reward and more negative control over food choices.

其他研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，獨生子女或最后一個出生的孩子與肥胖有關(guān)，這可能是與父母在吃飯時的行為方式有關(guān):他們很少表揚孩子表揚，把食物當作獎勵，對（孩子的）選擇的食物有更多的負面控制。

In the current study, researchers found the mothers of only children were more likely to be overweight themselves. Could this study's results simply be due to the fact that a parent passed along poor eating habits or a genetic tendency for obesity?

在目前的研究中，研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，獨生子女的母親更容易超重。這項研究的結(jié)果僅僅是因為父母遺傳了不良的飲食習慣或肥胖的遺傳傾向嗎?

Falbo is currently researching singleton adolescents and finds they spend more time on screens, which reduces their ability to be active.

法爾博目前正在研究獨生子女青少年，發(fā)現(xiàn)他們花在屏幕前的時間更多，這降低了他們的活動能力。

"They're not bugging their siblings and jumping up and down and doing the kinds of things siblings do," she said.

“他們不會打擾他們的兄弟姐妹，不會跳上跳下，不會做兄弟姐妹會做的事情，”她說。

"My research also shows they are more likely to eat fast foods frequently," Falbo said. "In terms of the whole research area of obesity, it's known that the more home-cooked meals you eat as opposed to eating fast food, the less likely you are to have a high body mass index."

法爾博說:“我的研究還表明，他們更有可能經(jīng)常吃快餐。”“就肥胖的整個研究領(lǐng)域而言，眾所周知，與吃快餐相比，你吃的家常菜越多，你的身體質(zhì)量指數(shù)就越低。”

The good news, Falbo says, is that these behaviors are fixable. "You have to reduce the screen time [and] control the amount of fast food. It's doable," she said.

法爾博說，好消息是，這些行為是可以改變的。“你必須減少屏幕前的時間，控制吃快餐的次數(shù)。這是可以做到的，”她說。

Muth agrees: "While we don't understand all of the ins and outs of why, we do know that there is a notably increased risk of childhood overweight and obesity for only children.

穆塔特對此表示贊同:“雖然我們并不完全了解其中的原因，但我們確實知道，獨生子女超重和肥胖的風險明顯增加。

"Parents of only children who are aware of this increased risk may be able to prevent overweight or obesity in their child by paying extra attention to creating a healthy and active home environment," she said.

她說:“如果獨生子女的父母意識到這一風險的增加，那么他們就可以通過創(chuàng)造一個健康和活躍的家庭環(huán)境來預(yù)防孩子超重或肥胖。”