Do career women put their children at risk of obesity

The results of a recent scientific study published in the journal “Sleep Medicine” show that the children of women who work longer hours are at increased risk of obesity.

Scientists also found that most such children fail to get enough sleep and eat unhealthy food, and also do not exercise as much as they should, especially during the winter months.

After analyzing the relationship between mothers’ length of working day and children’s weight, the scientists also examined various additional factors such as children’s eating habits, their habits of watching television and the duration of their sleep.

247 mothers with children aged from 3 to 5 years participated in the study. During the study, the body mass index of the children was measured twice. Once at the beginning and then again after 12 months.

Scientists found that about 17% of preschoolers were overweight and another 12% were obese during the study period of 12 months.

Furthermore, 66% of participating mothers worked full-time, and another 18% worked part-time.

Most children of working mothers slept less than 30 hours a week, putting them at serious risk of obesity. And scientists note that if children get enough sleep, they will reduce their body mass index by as much as 6.8%.

Scientists believe that the longer the mother’s working day, the more often she faces the dilemma whether to pay attention to her child and spend a few hours with him or put him to bed earlier.

And also, early in the morning mothers who go to work have to wake up the children as they attend kindergarten. And insufficient sleep, especially at this age, puts children not only at risk of obesity, but also of developmental delay.

A good and sufficiently long sleep is essential for the normal course of growth and development of the child’s organism in the period between the 3rd and 6th year.