Gran's care can make kids obese

Well this was the article which I came across in the papers - "Gran's care can make kids obese" The University College London undertook this study of 12,000 three year olds and found that the risk of of obesity was 34 percent higher if grandparents took care of them full time.

So many a time when a mother works and if there are grandparents at home then one definitely would like to leave their children under the care of loving grandparents rather than in a creche or a day care centre. Reason being one is not sure of the hygiene that is followed as well as the attention and care that the child gets.

On the other hand looking after a bundle of energy and being constantly on their toes is an impossible task for the grandparents. As it is, these grandparents have gone through all the hardships and troubles of parenting. Imagine doing it all over again!

Hence when the children are under the care of grandparents, most likely they will be over indulged. Children are pampered by giving them their favourite fried food, sweets, chocolates, and so on. Also if the grandparents are not very active, then they would prefer making the kids sit in front of T.V. Hence there is no active play. All these put together is a surefire recipe for obesity in these little ones.

I would not be surprised if they find that discipline will also be another aspect that gets affected when children are under the care of their grandparents. A common grouse that many parents have against their parents is that when they were children their parents never indulged them and were very strict . But the same parents now indulge and pamper their grandchildren to the extent of catering to every whims and fancies and sometimes even getting scolded by these tiny power wielders. Grandchildren after all are very precious for their grandparents, aren't they?