New Only Child Stereotype: : Only Children Prone to Overweight

New Only Child Stereotype Brewing

Are only children really more likely to be overweight or obese? A potential new stereotype links childhood obesity to family size, birth order and, specifically, to only children.

Photo Credit: Krzysztof (Kriss) Szkurlatowski

Since 1896 when psychologist G. Stanley Hall pronounced only children were lonely, selfish, and bossy, these stereotypes have stuck. A number of studies in recent years could lead to a new only child stereotype: “fat.”

Alarm about the in...