(RxWiki News) Alert! Parents are putting on the pounds. Not to blame anyone, but parents of young children tend to get a bit fleshy. Most days, Mom and Dad are just too darn busy to squeeze exercise into their day.
A recent study found that mothers of young children ate fatty foods, drank sugary drinks, and exercised less than the women who weren't mothers of young children. Furthermore, fathers of young children had around the same calorie intake as the childless men, but tended to get less exercise.
"Pigging out parents, please proceed promptly to the gym."
A co-author of the study, Dr. Jerica Berge was interested in illuminating this time in parents lives when they are at risk to develop some very unhealthy lifestyle choices.
Her findings: moms averaged 2,360 calories daily, which was 368 calories more than the childless women. The moms also exercised 33 percent less than the women without children.
Dr. Berge suggests the moms walk at least 3 miles a day to offset the extra calories and make healthier food choices. Dads did better with their caloric intake than the Moms, but they also exercised around 33 percent less than the childless men.
Dr. Berge also was interested in motivating doctors to advise their young parent patients regarding different lifestyle choices they can manage to do with their adjusting lifestyle.
In Depth
- Dr. Jerica Berge and her team studied 1,520 young adults, average age 25. Some of these adults had young children under 5 and some were childless
- These young adults answered a questionaire about their diet and exercise lifestyle
- Berge measured their BMI and weight
