When many families sit down to dinner, it's not just "please pass the salt", it's "pass the neurosis" as well. There are mothers so obsessed with their own desire to be thin that they cannot bear to see their daughters eat a healthy meal.

It's not unusual for parents to pass their hang-ups about food on to their children, according to new research presented to the American Academy of Paediatrics meeting in Chicago. Parents' problems with food may be so serious that they affect their children's nutritional well-being.

The researchers pointed out that adult obsessions about calories and fears of nutrients such as fat and cholesterol have contributed to childhood obesity, nutrient deficiencies, and growth and development problems.

So during meals, serve good food and let your children follow their own instincts. Given healthy choices and allowed to choose, children naturally eat a balanced diet and control their own weight. So don't force children to eat and never discuss your own perceived weight problems around them - unless you want to pass on your hang-ups.