Working mom Michelle Webb admits it's tough to make sure her son Mason and his older brother eat enough healthy food. "I tend to feed them you know chicken nuggets or fish filets or french fries or mac and cheese and I tend to eat whatever I have in the house for time I think and just ease. You know it's hard to balance everything when you're working full time."
A study in the journal Child Development shows the more years moms spend in the work force, the more likely they are to raise chubby children.
But doctors say working moms have to put it in perspective. "While the study shows that there may be an increase, a very slight increase in weight gain in children in parents who do work that it's not a significant amount of weight gain that would cause actual obesity," says Dr. Claire Del Signore, pediatrician.
One possible reason for the connection: After a long day at work, many moms opt for drive thru on the drive home.
To minimize the McDonald's meals, pediatrician Dr. Claire Del Signore suggests moms plan meals for the week, use pre-packaged fruits and vegetables and eat together as a family. "If your child is overweight then changes can be made to help them bring their weight under control and some of those are very simple things such as eliminating fruit juices or soft drinks, changing milk from whole milk to fat free milk."
Remember, kids love sweets. "Sugar cookies and Madeline cookies," says Mason Webb.
Which is why getting them to eat healthy is often a working mom's second job.
