This is precious. “The More Mom Works, the Heavier Her Kids Get.” That’s the headline from a BusinessWeek.com story. And even more precious, this is the lead from the story, “As if working mothers don’t have enough to feel guilty about, a new study suggests that the more time they spend working, the heavier their children become.”
We have enough to feel guilty about? Like what? Today, like many days, I got up and ready for work. Then I had breakfast with my kids. I spent nine hours at work, earning a paycheck to support my family. Then I came home and helped my kids with homework. No guilt here.
The study mentioned in the story is new research out of American University, conducted with Cornell University and the University of Chicago that says the more hours women work outside the home, the higher their children’s BMI. Read the full study here including the part that says, “but the role that fathers’ work plays in children’s physical health remains unexplored.”
In media interviews, Taryn Morrissey, an assistant professor at American University and the study’s author, gave a few reasons for why father’s weren’t included like the fact there are too few stay-at-home fathers to compare to working fathers and that women still shoulder the majority of household duties and childcare. Still it would have been interesting if the research team looked at the effect of working parents not just mothers and if the media stopped perpetuating the idea that even when women are partial (or total) breadwinners, they own full responsibility for the family and household.
If this working woman’s kids have some extra weight on them, it’s because their stay-at-home dad is an amazing cook.
Thanks Ken. I’m a big fan of stay at home Dads.
Strange how they came up with their info…..I do agree that the stay at home dads must be great cooks!
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