Stress in parents may contribute to obesity in their kids, and as parental stress rises the kids are more likely to eat fast food, a new study finds.

The research has caveats. It doesn’t definitively prove that kids put on more pounds when they live with stressed-out adults. And, oddly, the study found that kids of stressed parents didn’t eat less produce — although this may have something to do with french fries counting as a vegetable, the authors noted.

Still, the findings suggest that stress changes the way parents act in regard to their children, said study author Dr. Elizabeth Prout Parks, a physician nutrition specialist at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “Parents need to have support from many levels. There need to be supportive public health programs to help parents problem solve and cope with stress.”

via Kids With Stressed-Out Parents Eat More Fast Food: Study –Doctors Lounge.