Like it or not, you become your parents — at least when it comes to healthful lifestyles.

A 1989-1994 study from The Iowa Youth and Family Project revealed that children are likely to adopt the same risky health behaviors that their parents practice.

The five-year study found that parents who smoke cigarettes, drink excessive amounts of alcohol, are inactive, have poor diets and get inadequate amounts of sleep generally influence their children to have similar lifestyles, compared to parents who don’t indulge in those behaviors.

The study was published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior with Rand Conger, professor of sociology and agriculture, serving as the principal investigator.

The data were collected from two-parent families with two or more children from nine Iowa counties.

K.A.S. Wickrama of the Institute for Social and Behavioral Research at ISU served as the lead researcher for the study.

She said the study showed that specific health behaviors from parents not only become habits for adolescents but also influence the rest of their lives.

“More importantly than the specific health risk is the tendency of parents to pass on their overall health behaviors to their kids,” she said. “If you prevent one activity, the children generally pick up on another.”

Wickrama said the reasons for the tendency of parents to pass on their behaviors are social learning and structural reasons.

“Kids learn by looking at their parents,” she said. “If parents’ eating habits are poor, the child is also compelled to eat poorly. They have no choice. Adolescents have to adopt their parents’ behavior in these cases.”

The study also found that role modeling follows gender lines, Wickrama said.

“Fathers are more likely to transmit their lifestyles to their sons, while daughters’ habits come from their mothers,” she said.

Jeanne Burkhart, coordinator of intern training at Student Counseling Services, agreed that it’s common for adolescents to imitate their parents’ behavior, and family members should be aware of this.

“If parents were more aware that their children model after them, they’d be more likely to watch their health behaviors,” she said.

“Also, if students are aware that their parents are an influence on them, they can think through their health decisions and make good choices,” she said.

Brian Lowry, junior in agricultural education, does not smoke or drink. He said his parents had a strong impact on his behavior.

“No matter whether or not you want to drink or smoke, your parents are a role model for you,” he said. “They pass on the morals they have to you.”

Aimee Girard, freshman in pre-business and a smoker, said her dad smoked but didn’t influence her decision to because he didn’t live with her.

However, Girard’s mom did affect her eating habits.

“I eat the same way she does, small meals throughout the day with a larger meal,” she said.