MODELING

Role Modeling Summit Explores Crucial Link Between Mothers, Daughters, Food and Health
(09/2006)

While mothers pass down genetic traits of body shape, hair and eye color to their daughters, they influence their daughters’ eating habits, physical activity, dieting behaviors and body image more than they may realize, according to a panel of experts speaking at the Mother-Daughter Role Modeling Summit, hosted by the Milk Processor Education Program.

The Summit was the first-ever scientific meeting to explore the collective research behind a mother’s impact as a "healthy behaviors" role model. The evidence suggests that mothers model both positive and negative behaviors, often unintentionally, which are in turn learned by impressionable daughters through the "daughter see, daughter do" phenomenon. The got milk? campaign is throwing the spotlight on the importance of role modeling and milk’s link to healthy weight with a new ad featuring designer Tina Knowles and her superstar daughter Beyonce’, which was unveiled at the Summit. The celebrity mother-daughter duo are partners in the House of Dereon clothing line who strongly believe in passing down good habits like drinking milk from generation to generation. "While I was growing up, my mother set a good example for me, which included eating right and drinking milk," said Tina. "I have passed that on to my daughters, and now my grandson. Keeping ourselves busy with the clothing line and Beyonce’s new movie, we manage our weight by watching what we eat and drinking milk is a big part of that."

Daughter See, Daughter Do
"The often overlooked link between mothers, daughters, dieting, and health is a key to driving a healthier generation of daughters," said panel member Debra Waterhouse, MPH, RD, internationally renowned women’s nutrition expert and author of Outsmarting the Mother-Daughter Food Trap. "Once mothers become aware of both their spoken and unspoken influence, they are usually highly motivated to become healthier role models for their daughters."

Key findings from the Summit include:

• Children’s food preferences are more strongly correlated with the mother than the father, with the strongest association between mothers and daughters.¹ In fact, studies have found that mothers’ own food choices may be more influential than any other attempt to control their daughters’ food intake. ²
• Mothers who are preoccupied with weight and dieting and who try to influence their daughters’ eating habits may actually cause the opposite desired effect and could be placing their daughters at risk for becoming highly concerned with weight and becoming a constant dieter. ^{3, 4}
• On the positive side, a mother’s decision to drink milk more frequently and to eat more fruits, vegetables and whole grains is likely to influence her daughter’s choices. ^{5, 6, 7}
• While mothers have a profound influence on their daughters’ overall eating habits, they have an especially strong influence on their daughters’ dairy and milk consumption.8 That’s important because drinking the recommended 3 servings of lowfat or fat free milk instead of sugary soft drinks is not only good for children’s bones; some research suggests it may also contribute toward maintaining a healthy weight. ^9-11
  "The bottom line is that if a mother wants her daughter to eat nutritious foods, drink milk instead of sugary sodas and avoid fad diets, she needs to do the same," according to panel member Leann Birch, PhD, distinguished professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Penn State University.

While it is clear that mothers play an important role in helping shape a daughter’s eating habits, also significant is creating a family environment that encourages physical activity. Research suggests that both mothers and fathers are models for physical activity. "The benefits of exercise for developing girls include healthy weight, positive body image, and enhanced bone health," said panel member Christina Economos, PhD, assistant professor and New Balance Chair in Childhood Nutrition at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.

"However, studies also show a parent’s influence on a daughter’s physical activity can mean more than leading by example. Some parents may not actually play soccer, but they can still be a positive role model by driving her to athletic practices, cheering for her from the sidelines or volunteering to coach." Celebrity Mother-Daughter Team Gets Candid on Role Modeling Former Milk Mustache celebrity Joan Lunden joined Summit presenters to share her own experience with healthy role modeling. "When my children were first born I always understood that they needed a good foundation for growth and development, but at that time I didn’t

Celebrity Mother-Daughter Team Gets Candid on Role Modeling
Former Milk Mustache celebrity Joan Lunden joined Summit presenters to share her own experience with healthy role modeling. "When my children were first born I always understood that they needed a good foundation for growth and development, but at that time I didn’t have one myself," said Lunden. "It wasn’t until I was almost 40 that I started paying closer attention to my own fitness and nutrition. And so, I began an exercise program; I changed the way I ate; I lost 50 pounds; and I probably added 20 years to my life. Most of all, I could see what a wonderful healthy influence it had on my daughters."

Joan challenged mothers across the nation to pass on a new legacy of making better food and beverage choices, promoting positive self-esteem and supporting physical activity to give our children the best shot at growing up healthy and circumventing adult diseases.

Recommendations for Mothers
The panel of leading nutrition experts closed the Summit by developing recommendations for transforming the future of mother-daughter role modeling. Below are some of the ways media, health professionals, schools, and especially moms, can make a difference:

• Eat the foods and drink the beverages that you want your children to consume; mothers who drink milk or more likely to have daughters who drink milk.
• Make every effort to have family meals at home in which parents serve as role models, and make those meals full of enjoyment and free of criticism.
• Encourage lowfat or fat free milk at every meal and limit soft drinks and other sugary beverages, which often displace milk and add significant amounts of empty calories to children’s diets.
• Exercise together and exercise independently to serve as active role models.
• Avoid pressure or restrictive feeding practices at mealtime.
• Refrain from making negative comments about food, your body or your child’s body.
• Foster positive body image and high self-esteem in daughters by complimenting qualities other than appearance.

The Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP), Washington, D.C., is funded by the nation's milk processors, who are committed to increasing fluid milk consumption. The MilkPEP Board runs the National "got milk?" Milk Mustache Campaign, a multi-faceted campaign designed to educate consumers on the benefits of milk. For more information, go to www.bodybymilk.com.

The tagline "got milk?" ® was created for the California Milk Processor Board by Goodby Silverstein & Partners and is licensed by the national milk processor and dairy producer groups.

Sources:
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