Children with parents who both work outside the home were six times more likely to be overweight, according to a recent study by three U.S. universities. The study published in the journal Child Development, looked at 990 children aged 8 to 12, and the hours their mothers worked.
The children were similar to other kids with stay-at-home mothers: they watched just as much TV and did just as much exercise. Researchers discovered that youngsters whose parents work, tend to eat more unhealthily, to skip meals and eat chips and candy bars. They’re often left to prepare their own meal with a prepackaged high-calorie dinner.
They found the average child of a working mothers tended to be about one to two pounds heavier than their counterparts whose moms were at home. The effect increased with age, so that 11 and 12-year-olds carried three or four pounds more.
Researchers concluded that nutritional intake is the issue, and that busy working parents tend to spend more money eating out and on fast foods, and have less regular family mealtimes – all of which are linked to obesity.
Since families with two working parents is the norm today, the study points to the need for families to take nutrition more seriously, by planning and preparing healthy meals ahead of time to freeze for use throughout the busy work week.