"A new study is out linking longer working hours for mothers with a one- to two-pound increase in weight for their children, especially in the 11 to 12 age range (or a gain of 1 lb every 5 months beyond the typical expectations for age for every 5.3 months mom is employed)….Note that there a few points to embed in your brain before we move to what the news media have done with this one.
1. The role of fathers’ employment was not investigated here.
2. There already have been studies linking weight and maternal employment. Can we get some studies that look at the role of fathers in mediating these factors, say, fathers who do more of the domestic work? Or even better as a sex-control, mom-mom households? At any rate, this study isn’t exactly “news.”
3. One fifth of the sample of 990 children was overweight. Note that this does not say “obese.” In fact, nowhere in the paper does it say “obese” in reference to the findings. The authors note the “increasing rate of obesity” in general, but nowhere do they describe the children in this cohort as being obese. Remember that as you read what the news reports say.
4. They did not find evidence that “nonstandard” work—nights, evenings, weekends—was associated with greater weight gain in children, and they seem to be rather bothered by this finding. I can see why…and I refer you to (5) below.
5. The authors of the study speculate that the peak weight-gain risk they identified in children of working mothers might be explained as follows:
It is possible that because fifth and sixth graders generally have more independence and less adult supervision over their time use and food choices than third graders, maternal employment precipitates poorer food choices and more sedentary activity. Children’s lesser supervision at older ages may be related to the diminished likelihood of being in an after-school program and a greater likelihood of being in self-care (Johnson, 2005).
The ways in which the link between maternal employment and child health may be moderated by child age warrants more research attention. This speculation is less likely to make sense if you don’t find greater evidence of weight gain among children whose mothers work “non-standard” hours—when children are even more likely to be left unsupervised, especially in single-parent homes."
1. The role of fathers’ employment was not investigated here.
2. There already have been studies linking weight and maternal employment. Can we get some studies that look at the role of fathers in mediating these factors, say, fathers who do more of the domestic work? Or even better as a sex-control, mom-mom households? At any rate, this study isn’t exactly “news.”
3. One fifth of the sample of 990 children was overweight. Note that this does not say “obese.” In fact, nowhere in the paper does it say “obese” in reference to the findings. The authors note the “increasing rate of obesity” in general, but nowhere do they describe the children in this cohort as being obese. Remember that as you read what the news reports say.
4. They did not find evidence that “nonstandard” work—nights, evenings, weekends—was associated with greater weight gain in children, and they seem to be rather bothered by this finding. I can see why…and I refer you to (5) below.
5. The authors of the study speculate that the peak weight-gain risk they identified in children of working mothers might be explained as follows:
It is possible that because fifth and sixth graders generally have more independence and less adult supervision over their time use and food choices than third graders, maternal employment precipitates poorer food choices and more sedentary activity. Children’s lesser supervision at older ages may be related to the diminished likelihood of being in an after-school program and a greater likelihood of being in self-care (Johnson, 2005).
The ways in which the link between maternal employment and child health may be moderated by child age warrants more research attention. This speculation is less likely to make sense if you don’t find greater evidence of weight gain among children whose mothers work “non-standard” hours—when children are even more likely to be left unsupervised, especially in single-parent homes."
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The Biology Files: The “working mom = fat children” study: How the news media say it
SCIENCE!
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crashntumble reblogged this from note-a-bear and added:
I feel like the exact opposite happened with my family. My sisters and I totally slimmed out when my mom started working...
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