To not understand how single working mothers are responsible for this

[jessicawessica]

According to a study carried out by scientists at UCL, child obesity is the fault of single working mothers.
Their study published in the journal Social Science and Medicine concluded that children living in a working single mother household were 24.3% more likely to become overweight than those living in a household with a SAHM and partner.
Apparently the father's employment status had "no significant impact" on their DCs BMI.
AIBU to be completely outraged by this?
Why is this the mother's fault?
How can the father have no bearing on their DCs obesity.?

It's just data and stats.

It’s a scientific study not a values judgement.

It’s a correlation, not a causation

I'm assuming the real link is between poverty and obesity if those figures are true

Speaking as a working single Mum, it's probably because (generalisation alert) we are so time-poor we rely too heavily on processed crap.

DD sees her Dad for four meals a fortnight... The other 40-odd I feed her are going to have far more impact.

I grew up a such a household. My mum fed us frozen beige shite from the freezer every day or took us to cafes for tea beside she was too knackered to cook healthy meals. I don't think mine is an unusual experience

From a public health perspective, it is useful info. Perhaps areas with high concentrations of single parents would benefit from subsidized recreation opportunities for children. With a study like this, someone might get funding for a pilot study to see if they can improve obesity rates in a high single Parent area by offering a drop in rec time on Saturday mornings. If that works well enough to be cost effective, similar programs can be instituted elsewhere.

My single parent full.time working mother did so much for me and my brother . She was an amazing role model.

But we were raised on turkey dinosaurs and oven chips and sweets. She simply didn't have the time or energy to cook and we probably wouldn't have eaten it either.

Would 'absent fathers' be a better description? You can either describe the household by the parent who is present or the one who is absent. Same family different spin.

It's because the father is basically doing fuck-all when it comes to raising the child so it makes no difference.

Speaking as a single working mother I can agree that I am very time poor. I do everything by myself in the household that would be shared in a household of two parents. It is hard to cook decent healthy meals -- and I say that from a very privileged position where I do actually earn quite a bit more than minimum wage and I don't actually work a full 40 hours a week. Quite a lot of research shows that children in poverty grow up eating less varied diets because it is expensive to buy lots of new different vegetables and fruits for babies/children and they often reject them initially, wasting food/money. If you are poor, it is easier (or perhaps even financially essential) to choose the less healthy food that you know your child will eat willingly. If you are poor, you are even less likely to live in areas where fresh fruit and vegetables are easily available. There are huge links between poverty and lack of access to healthy food. And single working mothers are more likely that anyone else to be poor.

Blame poverty for this one. The explanation is that single mothers are the most likely to be poor. :-(

I don't understand how it equates:
single working mother = 24.3% more likely
working mother with a partner = 7.8% more likely
maternal employment = detrimental effect on DC BMI
paternal employment/unemployment = does not appear to be relevant.
So a working mum could be feeding DCs healthy food, then they go to their Dads and get fed junk food

The research is not assigning blame, btw. It is just pointing out that there is a statistical correlation. You can decide for yourself where the blame is likely to lie, and my own (unscientific!) personal feeling is that this is the result of societal inequalities.

Actually the absent fathers description sounds better to me as it lays some of the responsibility at the men's feet so to speak.

My single parent full.time working mother did so much for me and my brother . She was an amazing role model. But we were raised on turkey dinosaurs and oven chips and sweets. She simply didn't have the time or energy to cook and we probably wouldn't have eaten it either.

This is me My children watched tv after school today, whilst I was working from home on a deadline. They weren’t hungry so I did them a quick round of cheese toasties (and carrot sticks ) for dinner and got back to work. I’m only just now finished and ready for bed. Thank goodness I have a dishwasher or I would still be up.

Some nights I do cook, and others the allure of the freezer full of crap is too difficult to resist. They see their dad once every 2 months or so, so I am feeding them day in, day out and get knackered doing so.

It’s a really sad statistic but I can see how it might be the case. Although I don’t understand how the dads employment status has no bearing - probably because men aren’t held responsible for feeding their kids, that’s still very much seen as a woman’s job.

I'm w single parent. I work full time. I'm knackered. My teenager eats shite. My 12 yr old eats better but not much. I always make a 'proper' dinner but the days of it being from scratch are getting rarer. Yes they get veg, and there is healthy food in the house, but increasingly the meat is with chips or processed carbs because it's one less thing to prepare, or the meat is processed too. Some nights they have supernoddles! They love it but I burn with same a bit. And I've stopped arguing with them to eat my vegan dinners. I often defrost something super healthy that I've made that's in the freezer and I'll have that as they tuck in to a frozen pizza. I never thought it would turn out like this but cost and time dictate it.

Correlation is not causation.

@Purpleartichoke we had this exact thing. I ended up a volunteer with the organisation. It paid for my kids and I to access a variety of activities, get into clubs, get equipment needed for kickboxing, and there were residential and courses and fun days, all based round healthy choices, learning to cook healthily and all sorts.

The sad thing was that many of the families would go off site to grab greasy take away to bring back, thus ruining the effect. And it was hard to engage with the families sometimes.

I think the scheme has stopped now. It was super frustrating for the staff because they had to be careful what they said, or whether they said anything at all. Most the participating families were housing association or on benefits. And they were very stuck in their ways and still didn't see how their obesity issues were their own fault.

I knew a few overweight girls when I went to school, who came from very affluent backgrounds. And I knew a few more than that who were from poorer. So it's definitely a poverty link but to blame single parents is rude.

The issue of poverty doesn't seem to appear.
So you could have a working single mum on a high wage who can afford fresh, healthy food.
Then a dad, who probably shares care 50:50 who doesn't work and buys junk food.
Where does the problem lie then?

@surlycurly batch cooking is your friend. Also, see when you can organise time with the eldest to teach him or her some basic but healthy meals they can make. Then start roping in the 12 year old.

I've found it easier to get the kids eating better when they're involved in decisions and prep. Very luckily though, I'm no longer a single parent and we live with my partner. He's learnt to make a few healthy things.

Speaking as a working single Mum, it's probably because (generalisation alert) we are so time-poor we rely too heavily on processed crap

^This.

I am a single working mother. My kids live off Super Noodles and frozen Gregg's pasties. They can cook. I taught them both from a young age. We have food in the house they could cook. They just don't do it. If we didn't have the super noodles and frozen beige shit they would go to the shop themselves and buy it with their pocket money/the money I leave for emergencies or they would live off sandwiches. To cook is too much effort after being at school all day and relies on them agreeing on a meal and sharing the work load i.e. it's not gonna happen unless I am home to mediate.

I try to buy as many frozen healthier meals as I can fit in my freezer eg bags of stir fry from Iceland and make sure we have plenty of fruit, salad and yoghurts. They're not overweight as they don't overeat but they do eat shit.

I do cook on the rare nights I am in on a dinner time, usually about once a fortnight. Their father is home 7 out of 7 nights and has them for dinner never. Whilst they live me I don't believe I am responsible for their shit diet. I am not the one sat at home on my arse watching EastEnders and posting shit on Faceache while my kids stuff their faces with Greggs pasties.

Youngoffender - no one is blaming anyone. It's just stats.

I'm a single working mother, tonight we got home an hour before bedtime and shared a bagel for dinner (DS is 1, I'm not starving him). I don't have the time or energy to cook a healthy well balanced meal after work. I can completely understand how single, working, one parent families end up having higher rates of child obesity.

I ate more healthily when i was unemployed. Im a single parent and even now i work we still have no car and walk everywhere. My kids arent fat.

My dn has 2 parents and is obese...I was a single parent and neither of my adult dcs are obese.

Ps i know im just one household!! I am not saying this proves anything. But i am also a bit meh about the research.

OP, poverty does play a role here even if the research doesn't specifically address it.

Single mother households have higher rates of poverty; there's a very strong and clear link here in the UK and elsewhere.

Obviously you are right and the problem could be that a mostly absent dad is also then Disney-Dadding it up at weekends with treats at fast food outlets. The research isn't saying that the father has no impact. It's saying that their employment status doesn't have an impact.