Hello motherhood, goodbye diet and exercise?
A new study in the journal Pediatrics looks at whether parents of children under 5 years of age have different diets, physical activity, and BMIs when compared to young adults with no children.
Of 682 women and 838 men studied, both mothers and fathers had lower amounts of physical activity compared with non-parents.
Scientists say although many dietary behaviors between parents and non-parents were similar, mothers reported greater consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, total energy, and percent saturated fat compared with women without children.
Mothers had higher mean BMIs than women without children.
For fathers where was no difference in BMIs between them and men without children.
Reseachers suggest pediatricians may want to "consider discussing dietary intake and physical activity with new parents to identify ways to engage in healthful behaviors given the daily demands of parenthood, both to improve parents' own health and to help them model healthful behavior for their children."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says childhood obesity affects approximately 12.5 million children and teens, 17 percent of that population.
Changes in obesity prevalence from the 1960s show a rapid increase in the 1980s and 1990s, when obesity prevalence among children and teens tripled, from nearly 5 percent to approximately 15 percent.
According to the Rhode Island Department of Health, one in five children starts kindergarten overweight. High-fat, high-cholesterol foods contribute to America’s childhood obesity epidemic.
According to Lifespan in Rhode Island, adults with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 25 but less than 30 are overweight. Adults with a BMI greater than 30 are obese.
Anyone more than 100 pounds overweight or with a BMI greater than 40 is considered morbidly obese.
Another recent New England Journal of Medicine report links adolescence body mass index and adult obesity rates.
The prospective study followed 37,674 healthy young teen men through the Staff Periodic Examination Center of the Israeli Army Medical Corps, to look for coronary heart disease and diabetes.
Scientists found that during a mean follow-up of 17.4 years, 1173 incident cases of type 2 diabetes and 327 of coronary heart disease were documented in the men who were then in their 30's.
Researchers also found an elevated BMI in adolescence, one that is well within the range currently considered to be normal, constitutes a substantial risk factor for obesity-related disorders in midlife.
Although the risk of diabetes is mainly associated with increased BMI close to the time of diagnosis, the risk of coronary heart disease is associated with an elevated BMI both in adolescence and in adulthood, supporting the hypothesis that coronary heart disease, particularly atherosclerosis, starts in childhood and is more gradual than the development of diabetes.
Data for the Pediatrics analysis came from the second and third waves of Project EAT - Eating and Activity in Teens and Young Adults, a longitudinal population-based cohort study.
Additional Resources:
Figure your BMI using this Calculator .
Guide to Healthy Eating
Care New England - Rhode Island - Childhood Obesity
Rhode Island Kids Count
Thrive Rhode Island
CDC
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