Food Insecure As A Child, Overweight As An Adult

During weight control counseling, questioning a person about their childhood experiences with food could help to develop more successful strategies to achieve weight loss. Researchers at Texas Christian University connected growing up food insecure with eating in the absence of hunger as an adult. Even if the person was now socioeconomically secure their experiences as a child continued to affect food choices. How much you eat when you are not really hungry may depend on how well off your family was when you were a child. This research suggested that a person’s childhood food history may play a key role in their adult relationship with food and weight management. The lead researcher, Sarah Hill, PhD, commented, “Our research suggests that those who grew up poor may have a harder time controlling food intake and managing body weight.”