Do Working Moms = Fatter Kids?

Do working moms mean fatter kids?

A recent study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, says maybe.

It may come as no surprise that researchers found that parents born in 1958 were 50 percent less likely to be fat children than were their own offspring.

We all know kids are getting fatter by the generation.

Yet the scientists' tentative conclusions are making some working moms and dads mad.

Dr. Leah Li and her colleagues at the University College London studied over 8,000 adults who, in 1991, were raising a total of 1,889 children between the ages of 4 and 9.

Guess what they found? Kids whose moms worked full-time were 48 percent more likely to be overweight than those with stay-at-home moms.

Guess what else? Kids with fat parents tend to be fatter.

Alright, sit back down. The researchers are well aware of the fact that kids of parents born in 1958 had way more sugary, fatty snack foods at hand. Not to mention more advertising specifically targeting them.

They're not saying that it's all mom's fault. They've simply pointed out a pattern.