I love a good lead. I was sitting at my desk early one morning, preparing for clients, when I received an email with the following in the subject line “I look forward to you debunking this (because I think it’s crap).” Now if I love a good lead, I love a good debate even more. I clicked through and found a story that has caused quite a commotion in the blogosphere. A study published in the Journal of Child Development found that there’s a correlation between mothers working and higher BMI for their children. Translation working mothers have heavier kids.
Patience isn’t a virtue I naturally possess and when irritated I have difficulty disguising it but my first reaction to this wasn’t anger or even surprise. I have an unusual schedule in that some days I work early and I’m home to make dinner and do homework. Other nights, I am in the office until 7:30pm. There is a distinct difference in the 2 scenarios when it comes to my children (similar ages to the children studied by the Cornell team). On the nights I’m home, I am there to make dinner. I have time to make sure the kids start homework early enough and get to bed on time. On my late nights, it’s all a rush. Dinner (though we’re talking Applegate or Amy’s) may include a convenience item and bedtime can easily be delayed. My children are far from obese and I’m a nutritionist but I get it.
Much of the outrage stemming from this story had to do with finger pointing. After all, children’s weight is affected by many factors: activity level, food choices, sleep, and genetics to name a few. So why “blame” mothers when this is likely a more complicated issue? This reminded me of a conversation I had when my 8 year old was a baby. I called my mother for advice, I was upset and complained, “why is everything on my shoulders? I work but still have to grocery shop and organize Louise [babysitter] and put Myles to sleep, Marc just has to go to work.” I happen to have a very helpful husband but when it came down to childcare, things weren’t even-Stephen. My mother said “you’re lucky, Marc is hands-on but there is only one Mother.” As Oprah would say, it was a “light bulb moment”. The reason a father’s working status isn’t mentioned is because feeding children and all that goes along with it continues to be more the mother’s “job”.
With slightly over 70 percent of mothers working, the question is what to do with this statistically significant link. Mothers need tools for timesaving meals they can perhaps make on the weekend. Additionally, perhaps kids can sign some sort of pledge limiting TV or video games when their parents are at work. And parents, mothers and fathers, need to get home whenever possible so as not to disrupt bedtime. In my eyes it comes down to time and not neglect or guilt or blame. Anything you’d like to “debunk” in this study?What emotions does it evoke in you? Did the bulk of “feeding” responsibility fall on your mother growing up? Is that different from your current situation? Does the 70% statistic surprise you? Let the debate begin.
My family is another perfect example to debunk this myth. My parents both worked full time but mom made sure that the house was full of only healthy eats and taught us well. She woke up early to make dinner for us, sometimes as early as 5 am, so that when we got home from school, the babysitter would feed us well. When we were old enough to fend for ourselves, house rule was that one of us kids had to make a large salad for family dinner every night. I think if parents take the time & energy to set expectations, it is possible to keep your family healthy. But maybe I was just lucky!
I grew up with a stay at home Mom and my Mom made us breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. There were, however, plenty of other stay at home Moms who had a live in babysitter and didn't cook any meals. So my point is that I don't think just b/c you work means you can't prepare healthy meals for your kids and just b/c a Mom stays home doesn't mean the kids are getting homemade, nutritious meals. If you want to make good nutrition a priority it can be done. Eating healthy takes time and planning, but it's certainly not out of anyone's reach.
I understand the outrage associated with this study, and think it's unfair to point the finger at working mothers. Both of my parents worked late, but made a point for us all to sit down and eat dinner together when everyone was home. Studies show that families eating together leads to healthier eating habits in children, and higher intake of vegetables and fiber. Although it may be easier said than done, I do think that it's important for mothers (and fathers) to make meals a priority during the time that they are home with their children.
I'm with you on this re not a lot of anger or surprise at first. That said, I definitely am annoyed at the way the media report these "correlation, not causation" studies!
I found the study online* and the authors provide quite a bit of context — including the fact that their study largely looked at moms working "nonstandard" hours (working evenings or nights, weekends, or an irregular shift) — *and* that they couldn't draw any definite conclusions from the association between maternal work and BMI.
I for one will be a lot happier when the media stops running with the easy lede and starts looking more thoughtfully at the issues you mention. Me, I'd start first with the challenge of preparing healthier meals when both parents work (I think processed food is the real issue) and then, it'd probably be the food advertising geared towards kids!
* http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01541.x/full
It would be interesting to see what demographics this study covered. I always fall back on the poor kids who are in a food desert to begin with – you know, the kids on the subway who are eating Fritos and drinking coke at 7:30AM. I have a feeling the the working moms who are educated and live near, and can afford a whole foods, are making sure their kids have plenty of healthy food to eat and have enlisted a great nanny or sitter who can uphold those food values when she isn't around to do it herself. I still think that most lifestyle food issues in this country are out of lack of education on nutrition and fitness, high prices on the good stuff and lack of local availability.
t isn't only about whether the parent is working or not, it's also about what is being fed in school lunches, what is being marketed on TV toward kids, what their friends are eating and what the government wants us to be feeding our children – "got milk?", for example…should be, "got hormones you don't need?" However, there is no denying that it is an intriguing study. And I guess if it causes an uproar than it is doing something good in that it opens up a dialogue for women to share with one another how they juggle work and home-life. I blame the food industry.
love your blog and the way you get important discussions going 🙂 i agree work or no work its a choice to cook healthy for your family, on the chicken you boil it from raw for 20 minutes in the stock, remove from bones then add with veggies and finish cooking
Rebecca
To me this is a classical example of chauvinism skewing how we interpret a problem. I look at this and think that it puts alternate childcare givers at fault. Babysitters, nannies, aftercare givers and preschool teachers should be held accountable for the snacks and food they give kids. How many preschools out there are giving healthy snacks? From the ones that I have seen, it's all overprocessed stuff from boxes. Instead of blaming Moms for making a living and providing for their families, we should stop letting childcare givers off the hook.
Re my comment that processed food is the issue, I just came across a study in Obesity that compares a "cafeteria diet (CAF) … including high-salt, high-fat, low-fiber, energy dense foods such as cookies, chips, and processed meats" to a lard-based, high fat diet (HFD) in rats. Here's a snippet from the abstract:
"Body weight increased dramatically and remained significantly elevated in CAF-fed rats compared to all other diets. Glucose- and insulin-tolerance tests revealed that hyperinsulinemia, hyperglycemia, and glucose intolerance were exaggerated in the CAF-fed rats compared to controls and HFD-fed rats."
If the study's any good (I've not yet read it thoroughly), it will be really important evidence that the problem isn't working moms, it's our industrial food system.
http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/oby201118a.html
Wow. Interesting and wrought topic. (My favorite kind.) I think that it comes down to the outlook/healthiness approach of the mother that is working. If she is not inclined to cook or serve healthy meals, isn't it possible that whomever is there with the kids could in fact offer healthier fare? I don't know. The connection doesn't so much make me outraged (perhaps because I am not sure where I fit on the working mom/ at-home mom spectrum), but it certainly does intrigue me. Yet another post I might have to piggyback off of…
I'm surprised nobody seems to have strong reaction to the headline of the study. Not as surprised that many readers of this blog (slanted toward health) had experiences with healthy homes with mothers both at home and working. Beth, interestingly unusual schedules/hours was looked at and didn't seem to matter as much as simply having a mother working. Carrie, there were other studies with food deserts but this one found a statistically significant (though small) relationship across income brackets and neighborhoods. Lisa a great point that it's partially mom working but also the absence of the family meal and other variables. Verging on Serious and Land Animal good examples that this is mutifactorial and school meals, caregivers and many others help shape a child's weight.
Thanks for taking this on Lauren. I understand the processed convenience items play a larger role in unhealthy eating habits of kids and with a hectic schedule these items come more into play what enraged me was it's another study/article that pits women against each other. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said "Mothers need tools for timesaving meals they can perhaps make on the weekend" & "In my eyes it comes down to time and not neglect or guilt or blame." Instead of finger pointing and blame, I wish we could spend more time and effort on education & outreach.