When it comes to children's weight, mother's lifestyle habits matter more as compared to their father's, suggest the results of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology study published in BMJ Open. "Parents have a major impact on their children's health and lifestyle. Behaviours that lead to obesity are easily transferred from parent to child," said Marit Næss.

But how do parents' lifestyle changes affect their children's body mass index (BMI) Very differently it turns out, depending on whether it's the mother or father we are talking about.