Here comes yet another working mom debate.

 

I should be used to these sorts of “studies” and eye-grabbing headlines by now. Afterall, I’ve been a working mom for over 7 years now and I read for a living. But it never ceases to amaze me that one study published in a journal most common people have never heard of (in this case, Child Development) can cause such a ruckus. But that it does, each and every time. The various stories are currently on my “Top Stories” list in the health section of Google News, so they’re getting read….and commented on and judged. I had to stop reading some of the comments as they were making my blood boil. The amount of judgment and self-righteousness of people really floor me sometimes. But I digress.

 

I am by no means any kind of research or statistical expert. But there are a couple of things to examine with this study and to keep in mind when interpreting their results:

 

1.       The study looked at 990 kids in 3^rd, 5^th, and 6^th grade in various cities throughout the U.S. I am not sure what the population is of that age group, but I am guessing that 990 is less than 1% of the actual number. Not exactly a strong statistical validation point, in my opinion.

2.       They looked at a subset of kids that are typically aged 8-12, yet they say their results demonstrate that childhood obesity increases in children with working moms as they get older. So, you get this from looking at an age group that is pre-pubescent as well some that may be in the middle of puberty? Hmmmm. Red flag. What about the follow-up studies as they get into their teens? What about long-term into adulthood? To be statistically valid, we really need to know how it affects them as they grow throughout their entire childhood, not just during the time in their life they are most likely to start putting on weight due to hormones.

3.       The biggest question for me, and for many commenters I saw in the stories I read, was what about dad? Granted, some of these families in the study likely were single parent households but I am guessing a fair amount were dual-income families. So the dad has no role in this? I am not trying to play victim here, but why does it always have to fall on what the mom does or doesn’t do? Is dad really that insignificant of a role model when it comes to child-rearing?

 

If you read the articles, you do find that the researchers say the increase of BMI in children of working mothers is minor (it works out to about a pound higher on average) and they are actually telling moms not to feel guilty but to take it as a warning to make sure you are making healthy choices for your family. But honestly, the headlines are enough to do the damage.  The message is clear: you are doing harm to your children by working whether that “harm” is significant or not. Given that the majority of working moms do so out of necessity and not desire (though I tend to think I fall into both those categories and am not ashamed of that), this is not what the population needs to hear. We’re too tired to be brought into yet another debate about our choices.

 

I also find it highly intriguing that running along side this topic on Google News today is another about global obesity (ABC News): “Worldwide Obesity Doubled Over Past Three Decades.” So this isn’t a study but rather a gathering of actual reported data on weight gain in countries around the world. Guess what? The entire world is getting fatter on average. And the suspected culprit? Higher calorie diets and more sedentary lifestyles. I don’t know about you, but this sounds like a societal issue as a whole and makes me question the study above even more. It’s not just working moms that have kids that are increasingly overweight, it’s the entire nation (world, even). So let’s quit doing studies to target the moms and focus on the bigger issue, shall we?