16 Pages Posted: 3 Jun 2016 Last revised: 8 Jun 2016

Date Written: June 1, 2016

Abstract

Purpose: How will the words of a parent influence the adult weight of their daughter? This retrospective study evaluates how the recalled comments of parents made about the weight or eating habits of a daughter related relate to her adult BMI and satisfaction with her weight.

Method: A nationwide cross-sectional survey was conducted with 501 young women ranging in age from 20-35 (age 26.8, S.D. 3.1; BMI 25.96, S.D. 6.2), who were asked to indicate their weight satisfaction, eating habits, and BMI along with their recall of the extent to which they recalled their parents making weight-related or eating-related comments about them as a young girl. Linear regression analyses were run to examine the relationship between parental comments and women’s weight satisfaction and BMI.