New moms less likely to exercise, eat healthy

In the latest strike against parenthood, a new study finds that having kids might be bad for your health. New moms in particular face challenges as researchers found that they consume more calories and exercise less than women without kids.

A group of moms make exercising a social event.

Shutterstock/Richard Thornton

A group of moms make exercising a social event.

A team of researchers at the University of Minnesota gathered data from 838 women and 682 men and found that having kids is associated with a number of negative outcomes. Mothers ate 400 more calories a day, gulped down more sugary drinks and chowed on more foods high in saturated fats than women without kids. Mothers also had higher body mass indexes (BMI)–a calculation of height and weight that determines body fat)

Both mothers and fathers spent about an hour less per week engaged in physical activity than nonparents of the same age.

Fathers fared better when it came to diet and ate similarly to those men without children. Their BMIs were also equivalent to childless men.

The study results appear in the May issue of the journal Pediatrics. “The study, which compared survey responses from 149 parents with 1,371 non-parents, focused on people in their mid-20s who had children younger than 5,” according to the Star Tribune. “There was a practical reason: The data source was the U of M’s Project Eat, which surveyed Minnesotans when they were adolescents, teens and young adults. So it couldn’t evaluate whether older parents suffered the same problems, or whether diet and exercise improved for parents as their children aged.”

One promising bit of news for moms was that they eat just as many vegetables, fruits, and whole grains as women without kids. Yet still their calorie consumption is significantly higher. Mothers consumed 2,360 calories compared with childless women’s 1,992

“They were no different than non-moms on fruits and vegetable and whole grains,” Jerica Berge, a lead author of the study, told the Star Tribune. “So my line of thought is they are trying to eat the right foods and trying to set the good example, but at the same time they are eating more of these fast foods like chicken nuggets because they take less time to cook.

The study didn’t focus on why parents are more likely to adopt unhealthy lifestyle habits compared to nonparents, but Berge hypothesized that many parents are simply strapped for time and exhausted.

Any parent reading this will probably wonder why a study was necessary to reach this conclusion. Don’t all moms know that their dinner is often what’s left on her kids’ plates? Isn’t it common knowledge it common knowledge among parents that it’s difficult to find time to jump on the Stairmaster in between PTA meetings, pediatrician appointments, soccer games–and in many cases full-time office jobs?

Berge would argue that studies such as this are necessary to make the greater population aware that this is a public health issue. If parents are eating junk food and rarely exercising, then they’re more likely to raise children who lead unhealthy lifestyles. While pediatricians often asks moms what they’re feeding their kids, maybe it’s time they also ask moms what they’re feeding themselves.

Categories: Health: Moms
Amy Graff