A new path toward preventing obesity
Professor of Psychology Jon Maner found that people who had an unpredictable childhood tended to overeat, while those who experienced a stable childhood did not. The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . "Experiencing an unpredictable environment in childhood sensitizes people to the idea that it's difficult to plan for the future because if you don't know what's around the next corner, you live for the now," Maner said. "They end up focusing on short-term rather than long-term goals and they're not good at delaying gratification." Past research has confirmed a clear link between low socioeconomic status and obesity, but those studies have not clearly identified the root causes of the problem. That research has generally concluded too much stress in families can lead to a wide variety of negative outcomes for children when they grow up. This new research uses an important, well-established persp...