“I’m fat because mommy works”
Oh yeah, you’re reading that right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta did a cutesy little piece on CNN which draws the conclusion that it’s likely that our kids are fatter because of working mothers.
Surely this conclusion is based on hard facts, right? I mean, it would be irresponsible to place the blame for what’s being called a “health epidemic” squarely at the feet of working mothers without extensive research on the subject, right?
I’m not sure what research Dr. Gupta actually relied upon when dreaming up this sensational story for CNN but the statistics he presented in the report are as follows:
16% of children under the age of 6 are considered overweight. This is three times more than reported in 1980, when more mothers (according to Dr. Gupta) started working - and of course, the movie “9 to 5” came out (which was a convenient intro to the piece).
Terry Mason (Chicago’s Commissioner of Public Health) is quoted in the piece as saying that there is a “direct correlation” between women going to work and children getting fatter. Oh really? I’d love to see the actual statistics because if you look at the Census Data or run some numbers with the Department of Labor, there is nothing to suggest that the number of women in the workplace has tripled since 1980. Or that the entry of women in the workplace “exploded” in the 1980s as Dr. Gupta says. In fact, the number of women in the workplace grew on pace less than 40% from 1970 to 2004 (from 43% to 59%, according to the Department of Labor’s “Women in the Workforce”). Despite how great I think Dolly Parton is, she did not represent the mass entry of women into the workplace (in fact, women had worked in high numbers during both World Wars). But then, that wouldn’t make such a dramatic story, would it?
Here’s some history that Dr. Gupta left out of his story…
I could add to the list, but you get my point.
I’m no doctor (in fact, I’m a lawyer) but I think Dr. Gupta owes working mothers everywhere an apology for even planting the seed in anyone’s mind that working mothers are responsible for the levels of obesity in our children today. It’s unfair. It’s not substantiated. It’s clearly meant to make mothers feel badly about working.
Here’s some food for thought, Dr. Gupta… I have three children. I work. My children are statistically nowhere near obesity. Me? I’ve been chubby my whole life. And my mother? She stayed at home when I was growing up. Hmm, how could I make that a story…? I could claim that “stay at home moms make their kids fat!” and back it up with my own data and find a few other mothers that could corroborate my findings. But then, that would be irresponsible because it’s not true.
Mothers, whether they choose to work or not, are not solely responsible for the obesity epidemic in America. There are a lot of things going on. And in the CNN piece, Kathryn Thomas seemed to offer the most measured view of why our children are getting fatter: they are taking in more calories than they are burning off. Why is that? Do we blame TV? Or computers? Or video games? Or fast food? Or schools?
There’s a lot of blame to go around. And sure, some parents are guilty of not providing the most healthy of environments for their children. But let’s not fan the flames of the mommy wars.
This issue is not so simplistic as to be boiled down to the question of working or not, even if it does make for quick (and cheap) ratings headlines. And it shouldn’t be about making women, no matter what their choices, feel badly about working or staying home. It should really about taking the time to provide healthy meals and snacks for your children - and that doesn’t have to mean fancy, elaborate or time-consuming - and allowing them opportunities to exercise - walking, running, being kids. Let’s talk solutions, not blame.
child obesity, working women, Sanjay Gupta, CNN, children, nutrition
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May 18th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
Wake up lady. I was one of those kids. I’ve had a weight problem since I was 7 and now I’m 32, still having a weight problem. My mom was never there, she was working. She’d pick me up from daycare at 7-8pm. It’s too much time away from the kids!!! I’m staying home with my kids. You can work. Have fun!
May 18th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
This isn’t meant to be a mommy wars thing.
For what it’s worth, my children have never been at day care until 7-8pm. My youngest child has never been at daycare. And my middle child has been maybe twice in her life.
But I don’t pass judgment on those mothers who do, for whatever reason, work long hours.
It’s not what’s making our kids fat. If it were that simple, we likely wouldn’t have a problem.
May 18th, 2007 at 9:01 pm
I didn’t see the report, and I agree that it was most likely intended to generate controversy. At the same time, I think that when you have a child with a weight problem (as I do), parents really need to consider all possible contributing causes. And a lifestyle with two working parents is definitely a contributing cause.
First, when both parents work, they’re inclined to take short cuts that may not be the most healthy choice. Like signing their kids up for unhealthy school lunches. Or ordering take out more often than they should. And even most “quick meals” - like pasta - are high in calories unless you keep portions small.
Second, when both parents work, families typically eat later. This can mean that kids snack more, or eat and don’t have a chance to work off calories after dinner.
And finally, if both parents work, unless kids are in an after school sporting activity,chances are that they are not getting much exercise.
I do not believe that when parents work, they CAUSE children to have a weight problem. As I said, I have one daughter who has a weight problem, and one who does not. But I realize that my current work schedule (I work for myself, but my husband is not home during the week) sometimes leads me to cut corners, and buy meals that I shouldn’t or let my daughter snack on whatever she wants so I can complete a piece of work. That is something that I need to take responsibility for, as do other parents in a similar situation.
May 19th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
Just to be fair to the doctor, the study seems less an indictment of couples who “choose” to have both couples work as an indication that our society increasingly *forces* both parents to work, especially in the lower income brackets. In this day and age, I know that we’re completely lucky to be able to have one parent at home; owing to regressive taxes, lack of health insurance, and anti-labor practices, fewer and fewer middle income families are able to make that work. And yes, one of the outcomes, it’s clear, is a bump in childhood obesity.
May 19th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
This entire argument shouldn’t be about why a woman does or does not work. The piece doesn’t back up its premise with actual stats that make sense - they are not in tune with the Department of Labor at all. And even if it were true that the number of women who are working has risen dramatically along with the increase in childhood obesity, show me how that’s the single most cause of the obesity in children. I say that there are lot other things going on. I also say that it’s insulting to working mothers to imply that we can’t feed our children properly and work - it’s absolutely not true.
Mothering styles are different - for those who work, for those who don’t. Within the working mothers group, there are wildly different styles. Working mothers are not inextricably linked to fast food meals - in fact, we went through a drive through tonight (Wendy’s) and my husband and I could not, for the life of us, order properly and my daughter asked for a PB&J sandwich because she didn’t understand why a restaurant couldn’t make one. We don’t rely on fast food. It’s unusual for us to go at all unless we’re traveling, like tonight, on I-95.
My point of irritation with this piece is that yes, some working moms feed their kids food that is bad for them. And yes, some working moms probably plop their kids down in front of the TV, too. But the two are not synonymous. Working mom does not equal bad cook, no time and no exercise. I think to draw simplistic conclusions like “working moms have no time to cook, thus feed their kids fast food, thus resulting in fat kids” is irresponsible and unfair. It’s unfair to all moms who have busy lives - working or not - and still manage to raise healthy children.
May 21st, 2007 at 3:52 pm
I think it’s ridiculous, without some data to back it up to “blame” the working mother on childhood obesity -
And really, what stay at home parent actually makes the wholesome food pyramid meal - and what kid eats it? Most families prepare 2-4 different dinners every night - and few of them are especially nutritious. Plus, “good for you food” doesn’t necessarily guarantee a slim child.
May 23rd, 2007 at 1:06 am
[...] Working Moms Ignore Their Kids? May 23rd, 2007 by Neel Working moms have it hard. I liked the way Kelly came to the defence of working moms in her post I’m fat because mommy works. But being a bit of a juggler myself, I think that working moms have a guilt syndrome that they can never quite escape from. [...]
May 24th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
This is an explosive topic with no right answers. There is an connection between families having to work more (notice I said FAMILIES), increased work hour expectations from employers happening at the same time as proportionately lower wages while the expectations for kids to be involved in activities in the afternoon and evening is also skyrocketing. There are a lot of factors involved in obesity in kids.
Let’s take, for example, preservatives. There are only a few GRAS rated preservative chemicals recognized in the U.S. (GRAS = Generally Recognized as Safe) and they have not changed for decades. On average, most grocery products take 90 days to travel from the factory to the shelf … and then they are sold, and then later (much later?) they are eaten. Those staples in your cabinet may help form the staples around your waistline if some scientists are correct. Just something to think about, because I agree the fast food explosion is an issue but the grocery industry is not exactly a candidate for canonization either.
I could talk about this all day, the legal issues involved and the public policy funding, but this is not my blog. Bottom line for this reply is kudos to Kelly for not falling or the working mother/sweeps month/guilt baiting happening here … and if it makes you feel better, I went to law school with this guy’s cousin and he said Dr. Gupta was kind of an ass :).
June 2nd, 2007 at 10:42 pm
More mommy wars crap. How about doing a study that shows that having kids makes you fat. Besides the pregancy, you have no time to exercise and you’re always eating on the run between athletics and dance, while you’re making sure your kids have whole wheat, high fiber bread with turkey and soy cheese.
I’m being tongue in cheek here, but I’m tired of so-called experts blaming mom about everything. What about dad?