Poverty also linked to obesity

Re Your parenting style may be causing you child’s obesity, Nov. 16 “Parenting style” can now be added to the health behaviours of “eat right, exercise and don’t smoke.” Once again I find myself perplexed as to why the focus is behaviours rather than the social determinants of health.

Poverty is touted as the study’s second finding but this is not weaved appropriately into the discussion. The first strategy suggested is to encourage the children to eat their healthy items, their vegetables. But this assumes the family can afford to put vegetables on the plate, when research has shown that vegetables are one of the first things axed from the grocery list for those in poverty.

The discussion should have also focused on how the social determinants of health affect the style of parenting. Therefore, it should have been a commentary on combating poverty as well as childhood obesity, rather than what appears to be blaming lowincome parents doing all they can to provide for their children. Warren Dusek, Toronto