Stressed parents are 'more likely to have fat children who will gain weight seven per cent faster than peers' claims study Research found children with stressed parents had higher BMI than others They also gained weight seven per cent faster than peers A recent study has suggested children with stressed parents are more likely to be fat as they get older Stressed parents are more likely to have obese children, a study has warned. Children whose parents have high levels of stress have a Body Mass Index, or BMI, about two per cent higher than those whose parents have low levels of stress. They also gained weight seven per cent faster than other children, the Canadian study claimed. Researcher Dr Ketan Shankardass warned if not stopped at an early age, weight gain will continue to lead to health problems later in the children's lives. He said: "Childhood is a time when we develop inter-connected habits related to how we deal with stress, how we eat and how active we are. It's a time when we might be doing irreversible damage or damage that is very hard to change later. Dr Shankardass said it was not clear why the link between stress and obesity existed. He said parents might change their behaviour when they were stressed, buying more ready meals or junk food to save time rather than preparing healthy meals. Parental stress could also have a knock on effect for the children, who in turn cope by eating more and exercising less, or whose stress leads to biological changes that cause weight gain. The study by St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, looked at data collected during the Children's Health Study, one of the largest and most comprehensive investigations into the long-term effects of air pollution on the respiratory health of children. The childrens' BMI was calculated each year and their parents were given a questionnaire to measure their perceived psychological stress. It asked how often in the last month they were able or unable to control important things in their life and whether things were going their way or their difficulties were piling up so high they could not overcome them. Experts claim changes in parents' behavior such as buying more ready meals or junk food to save time when they are stressed could be a factor in the results (file photo) Rather than focusing only on getting parents to change their behaviour, more needed to be done to support families such as making sure they have a reliable supply of healthy food or improving living conditions. He noted that more than half the students followed in the California study were Hispanic, and that the effects of stress on their BMI was greater than children of other ethnic backgrounds. This was consistent with other research which has suggested that Hispanic children may be more likely to experience hypherphasia, excessive hunger or increased appetite, and sedentary lifestyle. The study was published in the journal Pediatric Obesity.