Mothers comments affect eating in Asian young adults »

Researchers studying eating behaviour in Singapore have found negative comments made by mothers have more impact on their children than their father's comments. Co-author Dr Daniel Fassnacht from The Australian National University said the study found significant differences with Western culture. "In Singapore, negative maternal comments on their child's weight and shape were linked to greater body dissatisfaction and disordered eating," he said. "Parents' negative comments have a pervasive influence on their child's eating behaviour." It is the first study of its kind looking at the influence of Asian parents on their young adult child's body dissatisfaction levels and disordered eating in Singapore. In the island nation there are growing numbers of children developing eating disorders, with figures in Singapore now on par with the United Kingdom. Lead author Samuel Chng, a PhD student at the University of Exeter Medical School, said more research was needed to stop the problem spiralling further. "Cultural family values are very different between Asia and the West, yet countries like Singapore have adopted Western strategies to this growing problem," Mr Chng said.