Parents have a high degree of control over the environments and experiences of their children. Food preferences are shaped by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. This article is a review of current data on effective determinants of children's eating habits. The development of children's food preferences involves a complex interplay of genetic, familial, and environmental factors. There is evidence of a strong genetic influence on appetite traits in children, but environment plays an important role in modeling children's eating behaviors. Parents use a variety of strategies to influence children's eating habits, some of which are counterproductive. Overcontrol, restriction, pressure to eat, and a promise of rewards have negative effects on children's food acceptance. Parents’ food preferences and eating behaviors provide an opportunity to model good eating habits. Satiety is closely related to diet composition, and foods with low energy density contribute to prevent overeating. Parents should be informed about the consequences of an unhealthy diet and lifestyle and motivated to change their nutritional habits. Parents should be the target of prevention programs because children model themselves on their parents’ eating behaviors, lifestyles, eating-related attitudes, and dissatisfaction regarding body image. Pediatricians can have an important role in the prevention of diet-related diseases. Informed and motivated parents can become a model for children by offering a healthy, high-satiety, low-energy-dense diet and promoting self-regulation from the first years of life.

Aim: To examine whether the plasma levels of long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC‐PUFAs) are associated with the degree of obesity in children. Methods: Sixty‐seven normolipidaemic obese children, aged 8–12 y, and 67 age‐ and sex‐matched normal‐weight children were included in the study. Obesity was defined in accordance with the International Obesity Task Force. BMI z‐scores were calculated. Fasting blood samples were analysed for insulin, glucose, lipid profile and fatty acid (FA) levels (expressed as % total FA). Insulin resistance was estimated by homeostatic model assessment (HOMA). Results: Compared with normal‐weight children, obese children exhibited lower mean plasma total PUFA (37.8% vs 39.7%), ω‐6 PUFAs (35.0% vs 36.8%) and C_{22:6 ω‐3}‐to‐C_{18:3 ω‐3} ratio (5.52 vs 7.61), and higher total monounsaturated FA (26.6% vs 25.0%), C_{18:3 ω‐3} (0.28% vs 0.25%) and C_{20:5 ω‐3} (0.45% vs 0.39%). In obese children, the BMI z‐score was negatively related to plasma PUFA, ω‐3 PUFAs, C_{22:6 ω‐3}, and the C_{22:6 ω‐3}‐to‐C_{20:6 ω‐6} and C_{22:6 ω‐3}‐to‐C_{18:3 ω‐3} ratios, and positively with total saturated FA and C_{20:3 ω‐9}.Conclusion: In obese children, plasma LC‐PUFA profile may be associated with the degree of obesity.

We read with interest the letters by Mendosa (1) and Brand-Miller et al (2) in the April 2003 issue of the Journal. In those letters, the authors wondered whether data on glycemic load were available in a healthy pediatric population and whether the type of relation between glycemic load and blood insulin concentrations had been investigated.

Investigating pediatric overweight and physical activity correlates is essential to design effective preventive programs. We used regional data (Lombardy, northern Italy) from the 2019 survey “OKKio alla Salute” (3093 children aged 8–9 years with measured anthropometric data), and from the 2018 wave of the “Health Behaviour in School-aged Children” survey (2916 adolescents aged 11–15 years with self-reported anthropometric data). In both the surveys, a cluster sampling methodology was used. Unconditional multiple logistic regression models were applied to estimate the odds ratios (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) of overweight, obesity and poor physical activity. The prevalence of overweight (including obesity) was 22.4% for children aged 8–9 years and 14.4% for adolescents aged 11–15 years. A higher prevalence of overweight was observed among males, children with greater birth weight and those with obese parents. Scant physical activity was higher among females and older adolescents. There was a direct relationship between obesity and increased psychological distress (OR = 2.44; 95% CI: 1.12–5.27) or being victims of bullying (OR = 2.25; 95% CI: 1.17–4.34). Increasing physical activity significantly decreased the frequency of mental health outcomes. Prevention campaigns should be promoted to safeguard childhood physical and psychological wellbeing.