According to a report from the Boston University School of Medicine, children who are overweight by the age of six are more likely to have overly-rigid insensitive disciplinarians as parents. Meanie parents cause stress, and small children overeat to relieve the stress. This leads to excessive weight gain. In addition, these children are learning health-damaging ways of dealing with stress and setting themselves up for a life-long pattern of emotional eating and weight problems, including obesity and diseases linked to obesity. Or disciplinarian parents can have such strict rules about food and exercise that are so unrealistic children turn off internal messages that tell them when they are full. But what are these children supposed to do in an environment that causes them that kind of stress? They have few options. Eating is one of the most readily available. It's not like they can walk out the door and hop on a bus for a better life.

Wishy-washy parents who are overly-permissive and over-indulgent also have children more likely to develop weight problems due to stress-relief eating. Fuzzy boundaries can cause stress too. Parents who just aren't there for their kids also have kids who can develop weight problems. Oh, as a parent, you can be in the same room and not be there.

On the other hand, children who are of normal weight tend to have parents who show a genuine respect towards them while maintaining a role of authority in setting clear boundaries and rules.

Of all four parenting styles, the overly-rigid insensitive disciplinarians have the highest number of kids who are stress-related eaters that leads to weight gain and obesity. The best parents, who have the highest number of normal weight children, are those who have respect for their children but aren't afraid to be parents in setting boundaries and rules. Of course, as with any study, these are generalized results, and might not apply equally to all children who are overweight. But it does make sense if you consider stress triggers and how common food is used to relieve stress. The children with the best parents are going to feel safe, have a higher degree of self-esteem and the lowest levels of stress.