Body Weight
Adults living with children eat more fat
By David Liu - foodconsumer.org
Dec 30, 2006 - 12:28:35 PM

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Raising children may result in weigh gain in parents. A new study finds that adults who live with children are likely to eat more saturated fat than other adults who do not have children in the home.

The amount of saturated fat eaten by adults who live with children is equivalent to nearly an entire frozen pepperoni pizza each week, according to the study, which is scheduled to appear in the Jan. 4, 2007, online edition of the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.

Previous studies have found parents have an influence on children’s dietary habits, but the reverse remains unknown.  The current study led by Helena Laroche, M.D at University of Iowa and colleagues at University of Michigan Health Adults meant to investigate the possible influence children may have on their parents’ dietary practice.

In the study, which is part of the federal government’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III, researchers analyzed questionnaires given to 6,600 adults ages 17 to 65 living with and without children under age 17. Participants were questioned about what they had eaten in the previous 24 hours and how frequently they ate high-fat foods.

Compared to adults who did not live with children, adults who lived with children ate an additional 4.9 grams of fat daily including 1.7 grams of saturated fat, a fat that is known to be a risk for heart disease.

The extra intake of saturated fat is almost 10 percent of recommended daily intake.  The U.S. government recommends that adults consume total fat between 20% and 35% of their caloric intake and saturated fat should be controlled at 10% of their calories or 20 grams for a typical 2,000 kcal diet.

The study also found that adults with children in the home were more likely to eat high-fat foods including salty snacks, pizza, cheese, beef, ice cream, cakes and cookies, bacon and sausage, and processed meats and peanuts.

The results per se could not be interpreted in any way to say that children are the cause for their parents’ eating of extra saturated fat, but such a possibility does exist.  

Time constraints, influence from food advertising directed to children and adults, and adults’ perception that children only like to eat foods such as hot dogs or macaroni and cheese may all prompt adults to buy more restaurant, ready-to-eat, or snack foods for their children and eat the food together, according to the authors of the study.

Parents are "two to three times more likely to name their child, not themselves as the family expert for selection of fast food, snack foods, restaurants and new breakfast cereals," and "50% of parents believe that meal and grocery choices and restaurant selection are influenced by their children.", according to Medpage, citing the authors of the study as pointing out.

But "Children's and adults' eating is enmeshed," Susan Kraus, a nutritionist with Hackensack University Medical Center, in Hackensack, N.J. was cited by healthday.com as saying "It's hard to say which came first."

"The study doesn't prove that the presence of children causes adults to eat more fat; people living with children may have different eating habits for many reasons. However, an important implication of the study is that healthy changes in eating need to focus on the entire household, not just individuals. Health care professionals must also help families find ways to fit healthy foods into their busy lifestyles," Dr. Laroche said.

She "cautioned that these potential reasons why adults with children at home eat more fat require additional research to see if they are actual causes. She also said a limitation of the study was that the data did not indicate which homes included parents and which included adult older siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents or other adults," the University of Iowa states in its press release.

"We also could not determine whether there are differences between homes with younger children, ages 2 to 7, compared to homes with older children, especially teenagers," said Dr. Laroche, who plans to further study adults' diets.

Regardless of the real cause behind intake of extra saturated fat in adults with children in the home, dietary habits can be adjusted to limit the eating of unhealthy fat.   Dr. Laroche recommends that the following suggestions be followed to control intake of saturated fat,  cited in the press release by the University of Iowa.

    * Choose popcorn or low-salt pretzels over high-fat potato chips.

    * Children age 2 or older can be given lower fat, instead of whole, milk.

    * Avoid cooking in butter, lard or solid stick margarine to decrease your intake of saturated fats; try baking or cooking in olive oil.

* Limit the amount of fast food and pizza you eat to once a week or less. If this is not possible look for lower fat items on the menu and limit the amount that you eat.

For more information regarding healthy dietary habits, visit the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Source: Laroche HH, et al "Adult Fat Intake Associated with the Presence of Children in Households: Findings from NHANES III" J. Am. Board Fam. Med 2007.