The unknown effects of obesity

I'm back to work and lots of my coworkers have stated that they plan on getting healthier in the New Year. I'm not big on resolutions (I like challenges instead), but I try to remain supportive of their efforts and take walks with them whenever they need a buddy. I think that anything we can do to move more in the day is a good goal.

Like most parents, I want to be healthier - both to be a good role model for my son and have a chance at keeping up with his energy level. But, I am all about balance, so I am also totally using the cake pop maker I got for Christmas. Because it is awesome.

But beyond the role model thing, I never thought much about how my weight may have an affect on my son. As it turns out, we are only recently discovering that there may be a link between weight of parents (that includes Dad as well) and a child's early development (think block building and learning to use utensils). Children were seen to have a delay in early motor skills (if Mom was obese) or social skills (if Dad was obese).

Researchers who are spreading this news don't have enough information to draw additional conclusions or access to additional similar data to confirm the results, so I suppose at this point it is more of a general awareness for parents-to-be: Your weight matters for more reasons than you think.

What are you doing to be a healthier role model for your child? Tell me in the comments.