A recent report published by The Daily Mail says that children of working mothers tend to have a less healthy lifestyle than those whose mothers stay at home.
A new study shows that they snack on more junk food, spend more time in front of the TV and do less exercise. Those whose mothers work part-time follow a slightly healthier regime, while the children of stay-at-home mums have the most nutritious diets and enjoy more exercise.
However, researchers also insist that the results 'do not imply that mothers should not work'. But they say there is a definite link between paid employment and a lifestyle that leaves children more at risk from obesity and disease.
They suggest that a lack of time is the biggest factor keeping the healthiest lifestyles out of reach of many working families.
The findings come from a study of 12,500 British schoolchildren published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. It shows children whose mothers are employed are more likely to be driven to school, watch TV, snack on fizzy drinks and eat too few portions of fruits and vegetables.
30% of the mothers in the study had not worked since the birth of their child but the rest had jobs. They typically worked 21 hours per week (with a range of 16 to 30 hours) and had been employed for an average of three years and nine months.
Researchers at the Institute of Child Health in London asked them about the hours they worked and their children's diet, exercise and activity levels when the youngsters were five.
Overall, many of the youngsters had developed habits that could lead to them becoming overweight.
But when the researchers took away factors that might skew the results, such as socio-economic background, they found a definite link between a mother working and her child's health.
Those whose mothers worked part-time or full-time were more likely to drink sweet drinks and watch TV or use the computer for two hours or more each day.
They were also more likely to be driven to school rather than walking or cycling. They were less keen to snack on fruit or vegetables.
Lead researcher Professor Catherine Law said lack of time for working mothers was probably the strongest influence.
She said many women in families with both partners working had a 'duel burden', shouldering most of the household responsibilities as well. 'Mothers who work full-time may have greater barriers to providing their children with healthy food options than mothers who work part-time,' she said.
With 60 per cent of mothers of a child aged five or younger in work of some kind, researchers said more help was needed for families.
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