研究表明，独生子女更有可能肥胖

研究表明，独生子女更有可能肥胖

Only children may be at a higher risk for obesity than children who have siblings, according to a new study published Wednesday.

周三发布的一项新研究表明，独生子女可能比有兄弟姐妹的孩子更容易肥胖。

The study looked at the eating habits and body weight of only children , and found they had less healthy eating habits and beverage choices than families with multiple children.

研究人员对独生子女的饮食习惯和体重进行了调查，发现与有多个孩子的家庭相比，独生子女的饮食习惯和饮料选择更不健康。

While the sample size was small and the study could not establish cause and effect, it does "raise an interesting point that we need to better understand," said pediatrician Dr. Natalie Muth, who chairs the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Obesity.

美国儿科学会肥胖症部主任、儿科医生纳塔利·穆特说，虽然样本量很小，研究也无法确定因果关系，但它确实“提出了一个我们需要更好理解的有趣观点”。

"Several studies in addition to this one have shown that only children are more likely to have overweight or obese," said Muth, who was not involved in the study.

穆特说:“除了这一项，还有几项研究表明独生子女更有可能超重或肥胖。”他没有参与这项研究。

"Why is that? While this study doesn't provide the answer to that question, it is helpful in building the body of research that eventually will provide clearer answers," Muth said.

“这是为什么呢?虽然这项研究没有为这个问题提供答案，但它有助于建立研究体系，最终提供更清晰的答案，” 穆特说。

What it means to be an 'only'

成为“唯一”意味着什么

Singletons have long fascinated researchers. Early studies falsely believed about only children, like the idea that a child would become headstrong, selfish, egocentric, competitive, excessively spoiled and unable to share. Or, that most would likely turn into self-absorbed hypochondriacs.

研究人员对独生子女一直很着迷。早期的研究错误地认为独生子女，会变得任性，自私，以自我中心，好胜，过度溺爱和无法（与人）分享。或者，大多数人会变成自恋型患者。

"A lot of people assumed only children are defective, and so a lot of research has been done on achievement and personality," said Toni Falbo, a psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin who has researched singletons since the 1980s.

德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的心理学家托尼·法尔博说，“很多人认为独生子女是有缺陷的，所以已经做了很多关于成就和性格的研究。”自20世纪80年代以来，他一直在研究独生子女。

In 1986, Falbo did a meta-analysis of 200 studies on only children and found they excelled in achievement, intelligence and character over children with siblings -- especially those with older brothers or sisters.

1986年，法尔博分析了200项关于独生子女的研究，发现独生子女在成就、智力和性格方面都优于有兄弟姐妹的孩子，尤其是那些有哥哥或姐姐的孩子。

"On average, only children get more education and they score higher on various achievement tests," Falbo said. "On personality achievements, they're doing fine. They have reasonably positive personalities and they're not prone to mental illness any more so than anyone else."

法尔博说:“平均而言，独生子女接受了更多的教育，他们在各种成绩测试中得分更高。”“在个性成就方面，他们做得很好。他们有相当积极的个性，他们比其他人更不容易患精神疾病。”

The only difference her analysis found was that singletons appeared to have stronger bonds with their parents than children with siblings, a finding that was later supported by a 2018 study of 10,000 German schoolchildren.

她的分析发现的唯一不同是，独生子女与父母的关系似乎比有兄弟姐妹的孩子更紧密，这一发现后来得到了2018年一项对1万名德国学童的研究的支持。

Connection to obesity

与肥胖的联系

Over the last few decades, however, studies in Europe and China began to look at a link between weight gain and being an only child; some also looked at birth order.

然而，在过去的几十年里，欧洲和中国的研究开始关注体重增加和独生子女之间的联系;一些人还研究了出生顺序。

The single-child policy in place in China between 1980 and 2016 gave researchers a gold mine of data. For example, one study of nearly 20,000 Chinese singletons found only sons in urban China were 36% more likely to be overweight and 43% more likely to be obese than sons who had siblings.

1980年至2016年中国实施的独生子女政策为研究人员提供了大量数据。例如，一项针对近2万名中国独生子女的研究发现，在中国城市，独生子比有兄弟姐妹的儿子超重的可能性高36%，肥胖的可能性高43%。

Other studies found being an only or last-born child was associated with obesity, possibly due to the ways that parents behaved during mealtimes: less praise, more association with food as a reward and more negative control over food choices.

其他研究发现，独生子女或最后一个出生的孩子与肥胖有关，这可能是与父母在吃饭时的行为方式有关:他们很少表扬孩子表扬，把食物当作奖励，对（孩子的）选择的食物有更多的负面控制。

In the current study, researchers found the mothers of only children were more likely to be overweight themselves. Could this study's results simply be due to the fact that a parent passed along poor eating habits or a genetic tendency for obesity?

在目前的研究中，研究人员发现，独生子女的母亲更容易超重。这项研究的结果仅仅是因为父母遗传了不良的饮食习惯或肥胖的遗传倾向吗?

Falbo is currently researching singleton adolescents and finds they spend more time on screens, which reduces their ability to be active.

法尔博目前正在研究独生子女青少年，发现他们花在屏幕前的时间更多，这降低了他们的活动能力。

"They're not bugging their siblings and jumping up and down and doing the kinds of things siblings do," she said.

“他们不会打扰他们的兄弟姐妹，不会跳上跳下，不会做兄弟姐妹会做的事情，”她说。

"My research also shows they are more likely to eat fast foods frequently," Falbo said. "In terms of the whole research area of obesity, it's known that the more home-cooked meals you eat as opposed to eating fast food, the less likely you are to have a high body mass index."

法尔博说:“我的研究还表明，他们更有可能经常吃快餐。”“就肥胖的整个研究领域而言，众所周知，与吃快餐相比，你吃的家常菜越多，你的身体质量指数就越低。”

The good news, Falbo says, is that these behaviors are fixable. "You have to reduce the screen time [and] control the amount of fast food. It's doable," she said.

法尔博说，好消息是，这些行为是可以改变的。“你必须减少屏幕前的时间，控制吃快餐的次数。这是可以做到的，”她说。

Muth agrees: "While we don't understand all of the ins and outs of why, we do know that there is a notably increased risk of childhood overweight and obesity for only children.

穆塔特对此表示赞同:“虽然我们并不完全了解其中的原因，但我们确实知道，独生子女超重和肥胖的风险明显增加。

"Parents of only children who are aware of this increased risk may be able to prevent overweight or obesity in their child by paying extra attention to creating a healthy and active home environment," she said.

她说:“如果独生子女的父母意识到这一风险的增加，那么他们就可以通过创造一个健康和活跃的家庭环境来预防孩子超重或肥胖。”