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【Child's weight linked to parents】Parents play a key role in determining whether or not their children become overweight, according to a study. Researchers in the United States followed 150 children from the time they were born until they were nine. Writing in the Journal of Paediatrics, they said those with overweight parents were much more likely to become overweight themselves. They also found that the way parents dealt with child tantrums and their attitudes to thinness played a role. Risk factors The researchers identified a number of risk factors for children becoming overweight, the biggest of which was having overweight parents. Overall, 64% of children with overweight parents were overweight themselves. This compares to 16% of those with parents with a healthy weight. The temperament of the child also played a role. Those who were highly emotional and prone to tantrums over food were more likely to become overweight. "Parents faced with an emotional child who has tantrums over food may feed the child to reduce the frequency of tantrums," the researchers said. The study also found that parents who were concerned that their babies would become overweight were more likely to have overweight children. The researchers suggested that this may be because they try to control their child's eating habits too much and prevent them from learning healthy eating habits. Another risk factor was sleep. The study found children who were overweight slept about 30 minutes less each day compared to those who were not overweight. The researchers suggested this was because these children had less energy to run around and burn off calories. They added: "Children with low activity may sleep less during the day because they are less tired." The study found no evidence to suggest that breastfeeding babies protects them against becoming overweight. Previous studies have suggested there may be a link. 'Faulty behaviours' The researchers said many of the negative influences can be addressed by educating parents and children. "Parental attitudes toward their child's weight may lead to behaviours that increase the risk of their child becoming overweight. Such faulty behaviours may be amenable to change. "Similarly, children's behaviours such as temper tantrums and the behaviours posed by the highly emotional child, which in turn may lead to overfeeding, are amenable to parental counselling through the use of well-documented effective child treatment procedures." Dr Ian Campbell, chairman of the UK's National Obesity Forum, welcomed the study. "We have some long-held beliefs about why children are overweight but not all of them are backed up by science," he told BBC News Online. "None of these findings are particularly surprising but it is fascinating to see science backing them up." He added: "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that child who is overweight is eating too much and exercising too little. "But what this study shows is that we need to dig deeper to find out why children are acting in that way." Health【Permissive parents lead children to drink 】Contrary to popular belief, English parents are more likely to encourage their children to drink than the Spanish and French. A survey by researchers at the University of Portsmouth found that English parents are far more permissive in their attitude to underage drinking than parents in Norway, France and Spain. Norwegian parents were particularly negative about children aged 11 to 15 drinking. In England, 40% of parents surveyed were unlikely to be strict about underage drinking. The Adolescent Drinking and Family Life Study in Europe research found that there was a strong relationship between parental attitudes to alcohol and teenage drinking, suggesting a need for parents to be the focus of education campaigns. Family attitudes They studied children aged 11, 13 and 15 and found that the amount of alcohol drunk by children varied widely. Three per cent of the children said they had drunk more than 36 units of alcohol in the last week. Fifty-eight per cent had not drunk at all and 21% had had between one and five units. A unit of alcohol is equivalent to half a pint of ordinary strength beer, cider or lager, a small glass of wine and a 25ml measure of spirits. Over half of all 15 year olds said they had alcohol at least once a week. Twelve per cent of those who drank said they had enough to get drunk. Eighteen per cent just drank until they felt 'merry'. The researchers asked the children if their parents drank more than once a week. English and French fathers were most likely to set a bad example with up to 40% of their children saying they drank regularly. Alcohol misuse The researchers, who presented their findings to a British Psychological Society conference in London on Tuesday, found that, for Norwegian children, their parents' attitude to drink was an important factor in whether they drank or not. In Spain, children whose parents showed them support and love were less likely to try alcohol while those whose parents were less strict about underage drinking were more likely to drink. In France and England, parents' alcohol intake and parental attitudes to underage drinking were key factors in whether they drank. The researchers said their findings showed the need for alcohol misuse groups to target parents. Drinking sensibly Alcohol Concern said other research showed that children whose parents drank sensibly were more likely to have a balanced attitude to alcohol than those who were either tee-total or had a drink problem. "Parents have a very important role to play," said a spokeswoman for the charity. She added that their role was probably more important than that of peers in that they laid the foundations for children's attitudes to drinking. It was not usually until age 12 and up that children who wanted to drink started looking for friends to drink with, she said. Alcohol Concern says parents should be involved in alcohol education programmes and says the programmes should not simply be tagged onto drug education sessions. "It is totally different as it is a legal drug," said the spokeswoman. 【Teenagers: Statistically speaking】Parents in the West of England scored pretty low in a recent survey conducted by the BBC into teenagers, their parents and their attitudes.The recent survey into teens, their parents and attitudes on the BBC Teens website has thrown up some interesting results.Teens throughout the UK were asked to fill in a questionnaire about life as a teenager. The questions were about sex, money, drugs, their relationship with their parents and self-image.Parents were also asked to fill in a similar questionnaire and in all more than 21,000 teens throughout the UK took part in the survey.Best in the West?Parents in the West didn't do particularly well in the latest BBC Teen survey with the lowest ratings in the country in some areas.Teens in the West rated their parents the lowest for how they showed their love, behaved with their friends, the money they give them and being able to communicate their hopes and fears.However the West's teens rated the importance of their parents above their friends higher than anywhere in the country.SEXThe survey showed that nearly a fifth of teenagers still find it hard to talk tot heir parents about sex despite four out of ten parents thinking that they could talk easily about sex with their teenagers.In addition four out of 10 teens also claimed that boyfriends/girlfriend relationships was one of their biggest worries.Sex and drugs and…drinkingSix out of 10 teens claimed they could not talk to their parents about sex, drugs or drinking but could talk to their friends about all these subjects.DepressionHalf of teens surveyed talked about depression with friends rather than parents and almost a quarter said that them becoming depressed was something their parents worried about.Nearly a third of teens felt that death was one of their biggest worries.Parents were even more concerned about teenage depression than the teenagers themselves with 32% expressing concern.RowsThe results also show that the main reason for arguments between parents and teens was behaviour.Money, money moneyOne of the best things about parents according to nearly half of the teenagers was the money they gave them.35% of teens claimed that money was one of their biggest worries and 23% of parents worried about their teens‘ spending.17% of teens claimed that parents could make them happier by giving them more money!SocietyIt probably won't come as a surprise to anyone that teenagers today feel undervalued by society with only 13% agreeing that they are valued.The hardest thing about being a teenager today was worries about appearance and peer pressure. This was the claim made by both teenagers and parents with a fifth of teenagers and 4 out of 10 parents agreeing.The best thing about being a teenager today, again, claimed by both teenagers and parents was more freedom and opportunity.Best/Worse things about parentsHalf of teenagers agreed that the best things about their parents were the way they show their love and their sense of humour. However, financial matters were almost appreciated as much as nearly 5 out of 10 teens claimed the money their parents gave them was one of the best things about them.The worse thing about parents today according to teenagers was their mood (4 out of 10 claiming this) but parents' fashion, or possibly lack of it, was also a concern for teenagers as 28% claimed their parents dress sense was one of the worse things about them!Parents wish list2 out of 5 parents of teenagers welcomed the idea of flexible working hours. A quarter of parents wanted easier access to teachers parent advisors in schools/colleges Better health services - better info on drugs/alcohol/sexual health (22%) and GPs with specialise expertise in teenage health problems (24%).VanityTeens were equally worried about their appearance as they were about their school work/exams.ReligionSix out of 10 teenagers felt able to talk about faith/religion with their parents.HappinessJust over a fifth of teenagers said that their parents could make them happier by giving them more freedom and to stop treating them like a child.For parents, the main thing which would make them happier would be for their teen/s to talk and listen to them more, but equally for them to do more housework! The highs and lows Best things about their parents"How they show their love for me"Average 51%Highest in the North East (56%)Lowest in the West (46%)"The money they give me"Average (46%)Lowest in the West (40%)"How they behave with my friends"Average (43%)Highest in the West Midlands (48%)Lowest in the South West (38%)What they can talk to their parents aboutRacismAverage (63%)Highest in the North East (67%)Lowest in the West (58%)GossipAverage (54%)Lowest in the West (49%)Highest in the North East (62%)What they can talk to their friends but can’t tell their parentsWhat happens at schoolAverage (67%)Lowest in the West (62%)My hopes and fearsAverage (57%)Lowest in the South and West (53%)My feelingsAverage (57%)Lowest in Scotland and the West (53%)The way my body has changedAverage (40%)Lowest in the West (34%)Biggest worriesSchool work/ExamsAverage (48%)Highest in in Wales (53%)Lowest in the West (42%)MoneyAverage (35%)Highest in the South West and Yorks/Humber (39%)Friends are more important to me than parentsAverage (42%)Lowest in the West (37%)Highest in Wales (47%)