Brian Fung, associate editor at The Atlantic, presents a research on the relation of childhood self control and adult obesity, asserting that "A Childhood Need for Immediate Gratification Predicts Adult Obesity." Researchers had developed a way to measure self-control among children and had recruited preschoolers to demonstrate "the marshmallow test" since the 1960s. Each child was presented with a marshmallow and were given the option to eat it or to wait a certain length of time to be rewarded another marshmallow. After many years, surveys were sent to 306 participants of which 164 responded, reporting their own heights and weights, their average age being 39. Researchers had calculated a relation between each person's self-control ability as a child and their lower body-mass index today. The results indicated a correlation in which "for every minute that a child postponed gratification, the researchers noticed a 0.2-point decrease in BMI among the grown participants. The research came to conclude that those who are able to resist immediate gratification as young children have a great chance of being able to maintain healthy weights in their adulthood.
Fung proposes this research and its results to inform all general audiences that a healthy maintenance of body weight not only results from the healthy dietary choices made as adults, but also of one's character as youths that show propensity for delayed gratification. Fung implies that self-control and the ability to resist instant gratification is significantly important in defining one's character and in healthy living.
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