Children who have poor emotional relationships with their mothers are more than twice as likely to become obese, according to a study co-authored by Robert Whitaker, a professor at Temple's Center for Obesity Research and Education.

Researchers discovered the trend after analyzing data about mother-child relationships to see how supportive the mothers were, and how secure their children felt. They believe children who feel insecure as toddlers are more likely to become obese as they are less able to deal with stress, causing them to comfort eat and sleep less.