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Does having a mother who had psychological problems increase a child's chances liklihood of getting chronic fatigue syndrome? No, according to a UK study - which also shows that the more exercise a child gets the less likely he or she is to go on to develop CFS as an adult. Chronic fatigue syndrome is a combination of problems including persistent profound fatigue, headaches, a mental fogginess which makes it hard to concentrate, aches and pains in the muscles and joints and tender lymph glands. Why it occurs is a mystery and there all sorts of ideas about what puts someone at risk. For example, some people have suggested that having a mother who had psychological problems increases a child's chances in adulthood. A 30 year study following over 16,000 babies in the UK has found that the psychological state of the mother or indeed the child doesn't predict a higher chance of chronic fatigue. What did matter were being female, growing up in an affluent household and having a medical condition in childhood which limited normal activities to some extent. What protected was exercise. The more exercise - and it seemed to be related to extracurricular sport - the less likely was a child to develop chronic fatigue syndrome as an adult ... and that was allowing for any physically limiting conditions they may have had. Allergy, obesity, how well the child did at school or having sick parents made no difference to risk one way or other. So keep those kids moving.
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