Thanks for posting this, I am going to be a parent in a few months, so this type of thing is frequently on my mind.
I wrote a lot of words but deleted them and instead decided to simply say, without a concrete definition of what the author means by “parenting” I can’t help but find the conclusions nearly meaningless. What is parenting? How is parenting measured?
The statement “differences in parenting have no effect on adult weight” is almost on face absurd. What if I make it my primary mission as a parent to enforce optimal nutrition for my child, and to lecture the child for five hours a day on nutritional science, and to give the child phobias of all sugary foods and taste aversion to sucrose?
Of course this will have some effect on adult weight. Would I be mistaken in thinking that these conclusions should be rephrased along the lines of, e.g. “typical deviations in attitudes of parents regarding their child’s nutrition do not significantly effect the adult weight of the child,” which says absolutely nothing about atypical deviations such as a lunatic trying to raise a Bene Gesserit might attempt.
Reading to kids, driving them to soccer games, making their food, helping them with homework.
How is parenting measured?
Time use surveys.
What if I make it my primary mission as a parent to enforce optimal nutrition for my child, and to lecture the child for five hours a day on nutritional science, and to give the child phobias of all sugary foods and taste aversion to sucrose?
It might stick. Or your kid will forget about it once they get older. Or they’ll rebel against your indoctrination and become even fatter than if you hadn’t lectured them.
Exactly, one thing Caplan discusses in the book, which I didn’t mention here is that the data is equally consistent with ‘parenting has a small effect’ and ‘parenting has an equal chance of doing what you want it to and backfiring’.
Congratulations on your soon to be parenthood! See my comment on adoption studies. If you’re interested in this, I do recommend the book. The kindle version is like $10.
Thanks for the addendum regarding twin studies, you’ve answered several of my confusions. I originally felt that Caplan was making an unjustifiably strong claim, but you explained that he isn’t looking at “extreme” styles of parenting.
Thanks for posting this, I am going to be a parent in a few months, so this type of thing is frequently on my mind.
I wrote a lot of words but deleted them and instead decided to simply say, without a concrete definition of what the author means by “parenting” I can’t help but find the conclusions nearly meaningless. What is parenting? How is parenting measured?
The statement “differences in parenting have no effect on adult weight” is almost on face absurd. What if I make it my primary mission as a parent to enforce optimal nutrition for my child, and to lecture the child for five hours a day on nutritional science, and to give the child phobias of all sugary foods and taste aversion to sucrose?
Of course this will have some effect on adult weight. Would I be mistaken in thinking that these conclusions should be rephrased along the lines of, e.g. “typical deviations in attitudes of parents regarding their child’s nutrition do not significantly effect the adult weight of the child,” which says absolutely nothing about atypical deviations such as a lunatic trying to raise a Bene Gesserit might attempt.
Reading to kids, driving them to soccer games, making their food, helping them with homework.
Time use surveys.
It might stick. Or your kid will forget about it once they get older. Or they’ll rebel against your indoctrination and become even fatter than if you hadn’t lectured them.
Exactly, one thing Caplan discusses in the book, which I didn’t mention here is that the data is equally consistent with ‘parenting has a small effect’ and ‘parenting has an equal chance of doing what you want it to and backfiring’.
Congratulations on your soon to be parenthood! See my comment on adoption studies. If you’re interested in this, I do recommend the book. The kindle version is like $10.
Thanks for the addendum regarding twin studies, you’ve answered several of my confusions. I originally felt that Caplan was making an unjustifiably strong claim, but you explained that he isn’t looking at “extreme” styles of parenting.