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.?

angelikacpickles Thu 28-Mar-19 22:40:26

Correlation is not causation.

This^^

It's not bias- it is just facts- thats all, I don't think society looks down on single working mothers- more sah single mothers who rely on benefits

I don't think the researchers 'blamed' anyone. They just reported what they found. And as usual the media put their own spin on it.

Have you nothing else to worry about?

Another single mum who's time poor. I batch cook and freeze on my days off, and this usually works well for DD at least, I am the one grabbing crap at/after/before work. Sometimes we'll have a takeaway or a shove in the oven pizza, but money does play a factor and is one of the reasons I do batch cook because it works out cheaper on fuel and ingredients, as well as time.
When she goes to her fathers she gets fed fried crap, every time - and there's two of them. To the point she'll eat at home before she goes because she's fed up with it.
The problem starts when I do overtime and spend my days off catching up with life in general before going back to work, and I just don't have time to cook anything that doesn't go in a microwave. And healthy microwave meals are expensive. And I regularly do overtime. Perhaps if he paid maintenance (long story) I wouldn't feel like I had to take every bit of overtime offered to keep my head above water and I'd have a bit more balance in life and be able to cook more often and different things. I used to cook a lot when she was younger and I had to be around more.
DD isn't overweight, she spends a lot of time outside when I'm about and I do kick her off the electronic devices when I'm around, but again at her dad's, and my mum's - that's all she does. DM does cook healthier meals than me though. We also live in the arse end of nowhere, nearest shop is the next town, a 40 minutes walk there and back, and similar on a bus when you count waiting for the bloody things. There is a takeaway but we live so close the constant smell is off putting most of the time instead of tempting! So for me it's necessity, but if we had more options I dare say on days I'm too knackered, I'd certainly use them!
I think because there's a stigma attached to being a single mum, whether you work or not, then research like this is always going to be taken with an agenda. I don't think, well hope anyway that the research itself wasn't done with any kind of agenda.

My sister's kids don't eat well - they're so picky and can't stand vegetables, healthy food, even fresh meat and fish (they only like the processed crap and various forms of frozen potatoes). She feels horrifically guilty because of it - she's a nurse, SO hardworking, a single mum, really doing the best she can (and she's doing a great job in many ways! She just feels she's failed about the food thing). Because she's so busy and works such long shifts and has no (physical or financial) support from her ex, she stocks up the fridge/freezer with affordable, quick, convenient food and doesn't get time to cook properly most of the time. So her kids have grown up on that diet and now even in their teens their diet is extremely limited and unhealthy. I don't think this study is a dig at single parents! I think it's more that being a single parent is so hard, and having the time or money to cook healthy nutritous food for every meal might not be possible.

What about single non working mums ? What about children who are 50/50 with both parents. Have they considered PT vs ft working mums? If so, how many hours?

It isn’t just the time cooking that’s the problem either. It’s the time needed to plan and shop and just ‘think’ about it day after day when you’re working and doing all the family and house stuff single handed.

It is stats, it does not go in to why that is, it could be the nrp providing excessive sweets or the emotional impact of having your parents divorce for example

Obesity and poverty are linked - single parent households ( and they are usually headed by mums) will have less money for good food, and less time to think about and cook from scratch. It’s not a blame game. And maybe something good will come out of it-

It’s a correlation, not a causation

This.

Yes it’s time and poverty thats the real issue here

Im a single mum and dd has had salad every day this week.its easy to prepare Im not that smug though as she also eats complete junk. A whole tub of pringles for example.
I am more priveledged than some and often people can only afford junk. I thought the healthy start vouchers under labour were a great idea.

Could you link to the report? I'm a single dad and want to know if I'm being blamed too, or does it just state single mums?

But i am fuming tbe way that single mums are blamed for all ills in society ...what about the absent dads?
I sent my ex a very reasonable email last night explaining that as he fathered a child it might be a nice idea for him to make a regular financial contribution. Dd isc10. I cannot go to csa as he lives outside eu. How convenient!
My friend's ex pays nothing...he lives down the road from her!
How xan we change this? Why do we let men get away with it?

Like everyone else said its a correlation, not a value judgement.

It makes sense, families with 2 working parents will also be time pressed but will have more disposable income for higher quality quick foods or one parent can batch cook at the w/e while the other parent looks after the DC.

Sorry can't link, but no, there's no mention of single working dads.
Surprise.

I thought the healthy start vouchers under labour were a great idea.

Yes, they were great for someone like me because I wasn't priced out of milk and fresh fruit and veg at a time when money was ridiculously tight. They were a positive help and probably stopped my DD getting cheaper and crappy food all the time. I remember getting eggs from BIL and milk and veg and fruit with the vouchers and we lived on vegetable omlettes and thick soup and I learned how to make a poor substitute for custard with fruit and we lived on that for about a week when I'd had time off sick so no pay. It was food, healthy, nutritious and filling and without those vouchers it'd have probably been packets of instant noodles.

I agree with you there op. It is presented as the fault of single mothers

I am a working single mum and I am fuming at this. I never feed myself or my son processed food. I think it's more to do with the fact that single parents household tend to have a lower income that two parents household but it's more catchy to say it's single mums' fault.

Also difficult for smaller households. With one small adult and one small child, we eat very little food so i just can't buy a variety of veg/meat or cook something different each night. It's less wasteful to have tins in the cupboard, bits in the freezer. A loaf of bread is the one thing we'll get through before it goes off. You get into a cycle of never trying new things, and kids get even fussier.

Constantly talking about single mothers in the media puts the blame in the wrong place. "Children with absent parents" would be a better phrase. Although there's such s range of custody setups, I don't know where researchers draw the line.

Why is nobody understanding this is just statistics? It is just numbers.

You're all frothing at the mouth about single mothers being blamed for obese kids and nobody has the sense to realise it is just a set of bloody statistics.

Nobody is being blamed for anything it's the fetid press putting unnecessary labels on things which then causes people like the OP to get worked up about something that isn't there.

Argh.

It’s a correlation, not a causation

You've probably heard the expression 'There's lies, damned lies and statistics' . It's too easy to assume one statistic is the cause of another. They could both the result of a third force e.g. poverty. The media, unfortunately, tends to report just the headlines.

The UCL has already made a statement that the reporting in the media was, as usual, misguided and that the research was not saying any mothers were to blame for childhood obesity.

The most likely explanation of our findings is that women are still taking on a disproportionate share of household and childcare responsibilities. That would explain why, when mothers become more stretched for time, we see a potential knock-on effect on their children’s weight. And that’s why it is so important that fathers and childcare providers play an equal role in keeping children healthy.

We know it's statistics but it is the way it is headlined.