--- title: Obesity: Family Stress Is Linked to Overweight and Obesity description: Family stressors—like financial troubles, poverty, parental divorce and remarriage—are linked to overweight and obesity in adolescents canonical: https://time.com/3773926/family-obesity-diabetes/ author: Mandy Oaklander article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-08T15:09:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:45:17.678Z og:title: Your Family Can Make You Fat og:description: Unhappy families have a bigger effect on daughters' weight than sons og:url: https://time.com/3773926/family-obesity-diabetes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt10541ca318fdecc4/69869d94d0b6f27ff73057c9/145138049.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5220 og:image:height: 2936 og:image:alt: Childhood Obesity og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Your Family Can Make You Fat twitter:description: Unhappy families have a bigger effect on daughters' weight than sons twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt10541ca318fdecc4/69869d94d0b6f27ff73057c9/145138049.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 05:15 video:published: 2014-06-12 section: health topics: dietary guidelines, saturated fat, cholesterol, LDL and HDL, triglycerides, low-fat diets, processed foods, carbohydrates and insulin, diabetes, obesity, whole foods genre: explainer, documentary tones: informative, critical, cautionary, conversational emotions: concern (medium), curiosity (medium), skepticism (medium) sentiment: negative audience: health-conscious adults, dieters, general public, people managing diabetes or heart disease risk organizations: US government products: reduced-fat cheese, fat-free yogurt, low-fat granola, reduced-fat Kettle chips, reduced-fat Chips Ahoy, low-fat cottage cheese content_suitability: health controversy [00:45-05:15]; death [01:21-01:23] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Unhappy Families Can Make Daughters Fat > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=42bd064e-472c-4e75-b84b-3e3952791069&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Truth About Fat [Watch (HLS stream): The Truth About Fat](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uYGhfNfS.m3u8) (5:15)  _Published 2014-06-12. When you want to lose weight or get healthy, what is the first thing you would normally cut from your diet? If you said fat, you're not alone_ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video examines decades of US dietary guidelines that urged cutting fat, arguing the approach failed to improve public health and that rising diabetes and obesity followed. It explains that saturated fat has more complex effects on cholesterol than assumed, and that low-fat processed foods often replaced fat with sugar and carbohydrates. It concludes that the best approach is to eat real, whole foods, whether or not they contain fat. ## Key points - From 1977 to 2012, per capita consumption of eggs fell by 9%, beef by 37%, and whole milk by 72%. (00:59) - The prevalence of diabetes rose 157% from 1980 to 2011, with nearly one in ten Americans now having the disease. (01:33) - Diabetes costs the public health system $245 billion a year. (01:44) - Saturated fat raises LDL cholesterol but also raises HDL, so it is described as having both harmful and protective effects. (02:31) - Smaller, dense LDL particles are linked to heart disease, while larger LDL particles are mostly benign, and saturated fat increases the number of large particles. (02:45) - Fats found in olives and fish like salmon are described as heart protective. (03:02) - Consumers replacing fat with sugars and carbohydrates meant calorie intake was actually going up. (03:41) - Study after study has found it is very difficult to lose weight on a very low-fat diet. (04:29) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:59] Dietary guidelines and the push to cut fat. Introduces the long-standing government guidance to reduce fat and cholesterol intake to lower heart attack risk. - [00:59 to 01:44] Results of the low-fat experiment. Describes changes in food consumption and rising diabetes and health costs since the guidelines took effect. - [01:44 to 02:45] How fats affect cholesterol. Explains the different types of cholesterol and how saturated fat affects LDL and HDL levels. - [02:45 to 03:41] Fat-free products and the shift to carbs. Discusses reduced-fat and fat-free products and how their marketing led consumers to eat more sugar and carbohydrates. - [03:41 to 04:29] Carbs, insulin and weight gain. Explains how carbohydrate conversion to sugar and insulin can drive weight gain and hunger. - [04:29 to 05:15] Choosing real whole foods. Concludes that eating well means focusing on real whole foods, whether or not they contain fat. ## Key quotes - [00:59] narrator: "By reducing their intake of cholesterol down to the equivalent of about one egg a day." - [01:33] narrator: "The experiment was a failure." - [02:31] narrator: "So raising both, makes saturated fat a cardio wash." - [03:41] narrator: "But amid the confusion about fat, we end up replacing it in our diets with sugars and carbohydrates" - [05:02] interviewer: "the only way to eat well, is to eat well." ## Questions this video answers - What did the US dietary guidelines recommend for fat and cholesterol intake? [00:45] - Did the low-fat dietary approach improve Americans' health? [01:33] - How do the two types of LDL cholesterol differ in their link to heart disease? [02:45] - Why might fat-free and low-fat processed foods lead to higher calorie intake? [03:41] - Why is it difficult to lose weight on a very low-fat diet? [04:29] - What does the video suggest is the best way to eat healthily? [05:02] ## Content suitability - health controversy [00:45-05:15]: Challenges long-standing government dietary guidance and mainstream advice to cut fat. - death [01:21-01:23]: Mentions nearly a million American deaths a year from heart disease in the mid-1980s.  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Apr 8, 2015 3:09 PM UTC  A Boy Comparing An Apple And A Cookie A Boy Comparing An Apple And A Cookie Michael Hevesy—Getty Images  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Apr 8, 2015 3:09 PM UTC Childhood obesity has [become such a big problem](http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1832542) in the United States that the rate of obese adolescents—21%—exceeds the rate of overweight adolescents (14%). It’s been that way for the last decade. Dr. Daphne Hernandez, assistant professor at the University of Houston, wants to figure out why despite our efforts, that rate hasn’t budged. “Many times when we’re designing interventions and prevention programs, they’re done in schools because that’s where we have ease of access to all these kiddos,” she says. “But the issue is that in those interventions, we don’t think about the family environment and what could be happening at home.” In her new [study](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091743515000158) published in the journal _Preventive Medicine_, she decided to look at three family stressors: family disruption and conflict, the kind a kid would experience after a parent got divorced, remarried, incarcerated or if the child experienced a violent crime or death of a loved one; financial stress, a measure of poverty determined in part by whether a mom was unemployed or had less than a high school education; and maternal poor health, whether the mom was a binge drinker, drug user or had elevated depression. **MORE**: [Mindfulness Exercises Improve Kids’ Math Scores](http://time.com/3682311/mindfulness-math/) Hernandez analyzed data from 4,762 adolescents between 1975-1990 using the National Longitudinal Study of Youth. She measured each adolescent’s exposure to these family factors from birth until age 15, then looked at their weight at age 18\. The results showed clear gender differences. In adolescent girls, experiencing family disruption and financial stress repeatedly was linked to overweight or obesity by age 18\. That wasn’t true for adolescent boys. Just one stress point—poor maternal health—was linked to being overweight or obese by 18. When all the findings were lumped together, Hernandez says, the gender differences disappeared. “Not all stress influences females and males the same,” she says. The reason why lies beyond the scope of this study, but Hernandez suspects it has something to do with physiolgocial and behavioral stress responses. Your body secretes cortisol when it’s stressed, she says—which, if chronic, suppresses your body’s ability to feel satiated. “Behaviorally, you then gravitate more towards the more palatable foods, the high calorie, high fat foods, so you’re not reaching for that apple or celery stick,” she says. This pattern seems to be more prevalent in females than in males, she adds. “We really need to think about how we are teaching our adolescents how to deal with stress, and trying not to use food as a way to deal with stress,” Hernandez says. “Perhaps encouraging physical activity is the way we should be going.” [Want to stay up to date on all the latest family research? Sign up for Time’s free weekly newsletter for parents.](http://time.com/t4parents) ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] There's something we all enjoy about staying [00:02] for dinner. You ever thought why? What was on [00:06] your dinner table when you were younger? Chances are [00:08] it had a lot to do with, what your doctor was telling you [00:10] is healthy. Building a strong healthy body is like [00:13] building a strong, beautiful building. If the foundation [00:14] is weak, the [00:18] whole building will be weak. It takes five fingers to [00:21] point the way to healthful eating habits. Well, here we [00:25] go. For years, the government published dietary [00:29] guidelines. Meant to keep Americans healthy. There's [00:32] a great deal to learn. Tell me what you eat, and I'll tell [00:35] you what you are. The body needs certain substances [00:38] to live and grow. And remember, your body [00:42] isn't just like an automobile. For years, the key [00:45] measures of those guidelines were the same, cut fat [00:48] from your diet. The committee's original report urged [00:51] Americans to reduce their risk of heart attack. By [00:54] reducing their intake of cholesterol down to the [00:56] equivalent of about one egg a day. And those [00:59] guidelines had an effect. From 1977 to 2012, per [01:04] capita consumption of eggs fell by 9 %, beef by 37 %, [01:08] whole milk by 72 %. Calories from saturated fat fell, [01:12] while calories from supposedly safe carbohydrates [01:14] increased. As one expert put it, it was a vast nutritional [01:18] experiment. With nearly a million American's a year [01:21] dropping dead from heart disease in the mid 80s, we [01:23] had to try something. Nearly four decades later results [01:26] are in. The experiment was a failure. [01:31] Americans are sicker than they've ever been before. [01:33] The prevalence of diabetes has gone up 157 % from [01:36] 1980 to 2011. Nearly one in ten Americans [01:41] now has the disease. Causing the public health system [01:44] $ 245 billion a year. Heart disease is still the number [01:48] one killer in the country. Americans are as obese as [01:51] ever. So, what went wrong? Good old granola. Great [01:54] for taste but loaded with fat. It doesn't take much of [01:58] imagine a leap to assume that fat would make us fat, [02:02] clog our arteries and raise the risk of heart disease. It [02:05] turns out that saturated fat is a lot more complicated [02:07] than we think. Carbohydrates and fats are nutrients. [02:10] Like man, you need nutrients to live and [02:14] grow. [ MUSIC ] Firstly, there are two kinds of [02:18] cholesterol. LDL which is linked to heart disease and [02:21] HDL which can be protective. Fats that course through [02:25] the blood are known as triglycerides and high levels of [02:28] those are linked to heart disease. Saturated fat raises [02:31] LDL cholesterol but also raises HDL. Moving LDL [02:34] buildup on arterial walls. So raising both, makes [02:38] saturated fat a cardio wash. One key piece of [02:41] information is that LDL seems to come in two forms. [02:45] Large and fluffy, small and dense. Those smaller [02:48] particles are linked to heart disease, while the larger [02:50] ones are mostly benign. Saturated fat increases the [02:54] number of large particles. The opposite happens with [02:57] carbs. I don't get it. Researchers [03:02] have long since discovered the kind of fats found in [03:04] olives and in fish like salmon. Are actually heart [03:07] protective. Now it turns out the fats found in meat and [03:10] dairy, aren't as bad as we feared before. So that [03:13] means by focusing so much on fats. We may actually [03:16] have been making ourselves sicker. So, she brings up [03:18] the subject of reduced- fat cheese. It's a fat- free [03:21] [ UNKNOWN ]. Fat- free, cholesterol free. Low- fat [03:23] granola. Reduced- fat Kettle chips. Reduced- fat [03:24] Chips Ahoy. Lowfat cottage cheese. Non- fat yogurt is [03:28] the perfect example. The thinking for consumers was [03:31] simple. Fat was dangerous. This product had no fat. [03:34] Therefore, it must be healthy. It's non- fat, which [03:37] means less calories. [ MUSIC ] But [03:41] amid the confusion about fat, we end up replacing it in [03:44] our diets with sugars and carbohydrates, which meant [03:47] our calorie intake was actually going up. When [03:51] carbs [03:54] and things like corn and white bread are ingested into [03:56] your body, their converted into sugars. Those sugars [03:59] convert to insulin cuz it's fat cells go into storage [04:03] overdrive, leading to weight gain. Since fewer calories [04:06] are then left to fill the body, you begin to feel hungry it [04:08] means our metabolism begins to slow down in effort to [04:11] save energy, we eat more and we gain more weight, [04:14] never quite feeling full. As this process repeats, our [04:17] cells become more resistant to insulin, which causes us [04:19] to gain more weight, which increases insulin resistance [04:21] in a vicious circle. Cut calories, and people just get [04:26] hungrier. Obesity, diabetes, high triglycerides and low [04:29] HDL cholesterol can all follow. Study after study has [04:33] found it's very difficult to lose weight on a very low- fat [04:35] diet. Possibly because fat and meat can produce a [04:38] sense of satiety, that's hard to achieve with carbs, [04:40] making it easier to simply stop eating. But it isn't just [04:44] the increase in carbs that affects us. These processed, [04:47] low saturated fat alternatives, come loaded with [04:50] sugars, salt, preservatives, and even some unhealthy [04:54] fats. So what's the real alternative? As [04:59] one extra puts it, the cold hard truth about diet is that [05:02] the only way to eat well, is to eat well. You'll be [05:05] happier and you'll be healthier, if you focus on real [05:08] whole foods, whether they have fat or not. Got it. 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