Experts say children begin learning patterns of healthy eating habits when they're babies.
"Children learn to recognize when they are hungry, they learn to recognize when they are full, right from infancy. And things in their environment can make those things more difficult," says Dr. Rachel Gross, a Montefiore Medical Center pediatrician.
In a study published in the Journal of Academic Pediatrics, Gross and her team interviewed more than 400 Bronx mothers of 5-year-old children. They found that mothers experiencing severe feelings of depression were two-and-a-half times more likely to have an obese or overweight child.
The link was less significant for mothers with mild depression.
"They may have trouble concentrating. They may also have low energy, and so just experiencing those types of symptoms can make it more difficult to engage with their child," Gross says.
Children with depressed mothers ate less as a family, skipped breakfast often, dined more at restaurants and consumed more sugary drinks, according to Gross.
"We also found that children who had mothers who have experienced feelings of sadness and depression were less likely to spend time playing outside, as well as slept less during the night," Gross says.
Montefiore's Healthy Steps program, which will soon be offered at all of its locations, gives mothers on-site counseling treatment to address their mental health when they are in for pediatric visits.
"As more growing awareness that child's health is really related to the health of an entire family, that is the change that should come down the line in all of the general pediatrics," Gross says.
She urges mothers not to suffer in silence, and says feelings of sadness or depression are common, plaguing one in four women.
"I would encourage mothers to really reach out to their physicians but also consider reaching out to pediatricians who are not only there for health of their children but really the health of the whole family," Gross says.
