The effect of family variables on child weight change.

Previous research has shown that family size, the number of obese persons living at home, and parental weight influence the development of childhood obesity. Our study reports the relevance of these factors to child weight loss during a 1-year treatment period. Multiple linear regression procedures showed that the amount of relative weight change was related to initial treatment success, the number of children in the family, and the gender of the child. Children who were more successful lost more weight initially, had fewer siblings, and were female. These results suggest that family size may interact with treatment to determine weight change. The effects of family size on outcome may be operating simply by reducing the amount of time that a parent has to spend with the child in promoting behavior change. Likewise, increased family size may be operating as a stressor, reducing the effectiveness of parents in effectively managing their children.