A prospective study of the influence of eating-disordered mothers on their children

✍ Scribed by Agras, Stewart ;Hammer, Lawrence ;McNicholas, Fiona

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 140 KB
• Volume: 25
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0276-3478
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-108x(199904)25:3<253::aid-eat2>3.0.co;2-z

✦ Synopsis

Objective: This study examined the effects of eating disordered mothers on their children. Method: Women with a past or present eating disorder (ED; N = 41) and non-eating disordered women (NED); N = 153) and their offspring were followed prospectively. Results: Female infants of ED mothers sucked significantly faster and were weaned 9 months later than offspring of NED mothers. ED mothers fed their children on a less regular schedule, used food for nonnutritive purposes, and demonstrated significantly higher concern about their daughters' weight than NED mothers from 2 years of age onward. At 5 years, the offspring of ED mothers were reported to demonstrate greater negative affect than the offspring of NED mothers Discussion: The female offspring of ED mothers demonstrate a high avidity for feeding early in life which, combined with increased maternal concern over their daughters weight and the use of food for nonnutritive purposes, may pose a serious risk for the later development of an eating disorder.