Long work hours of mothers and fathers are linked to increased risk for overweight and obesity among preschool children: longitudinal evidence from Germany

Abstract

BackgroundMost existing studies on maternal employment and childhood overweight/obesity are from the USA. They are predominantly cross-sectional and show a consistent linear association between the two. Less is known about the joint impact of fathers’ and mothers’ work hours on childhood overweight and obesity.ObjectivesTo examine the impact of maternal and paternal work hours on overweight/obesity among children aged 1–6 years in Germany using longitudinal data.MethodsChild body weight and height and their parents’ work hours were collected for 2413 children at ages 0–1, ages 2–3 and ages 5–6. Overweight and obesity was defined using the body mass index percentiles based on the Cole LMS-Method. Random effects model was conducted, adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic and health characteristics of parents and children.ResultsCompared with non-employment, when mothers worked 35 or more hours per week, the risk for child overweight and obesity increased among preschool children. When fathers worked 55 or more hours per week, this effect was strengthened and maternal part-time hours (24–34 per week) also became a risk for child overweight and obesity. The effect was mainly found in high-income families.ConclusionsBoth mothers’ and fathers’ long work hours matter to young children’s overweight status. Employment protection and work time regulation for both working parents during the first 6 years of the child’s life should be considered in future policy.

Maternal Employment and Infant BMI z Score in a US Birth Cohort

“…These findings are generally consistent with US studies, which have reported that additional hours of maternal work increase the probability of childhood overweight/obesity (7,9,14). In an Australian sample, a larger magnitude of effect was observed among lower-income families (13) in contrast with results from Germany (12) and the United States (5,7-10), where larger effects were observed among higher-income families.…”

“…Although our study suggests that change in maternal employment was related to BMI z score during infancy, we did not find an association between change in maternal employment and infant overweight in income-stratified models. Li and colleagues also reported a null association between maternal work hours and overweight among infants in a non-US sample (12). Yet our income-stratified results for overweight were in the same direction as the results for BMI z score.…”

“…Datar and colleagues also reported a positive association between maternal employment and child BMI, and a larger magnitude of effect (5%) among high socioeconomic status children (8). Ziol-Guest reported a 10% higher odds of overweight among high-income mothers (9), and Li and colleagues reported a larger magnitude of effect among high-income families in Germany (12).…”

“…Prior studies have suggested that maternal employment is associated with a higher BMI among children (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10) and that it has contributed to 10% of the growth in childhood overweight over the past few decades in the United States (11). However, studies have reported differential effects by the number of maternal work hours, socioeconomic status, and child age (5,(7)(8)(9)12,13). For example, Li and colleagues reported a lower likelihood of overweight/obesity among preschool-aged children when mothers in Western Australia worked ≤24 hours per week compared with mothers who worked ≥35 hours (13).…”

Parental neglect of feeding in obese individuals

“…58 Parental smoking, especially that of the mother (during pregnancy and after birth) risks development of obesity and also presents mothers as a poor role model. 59 While its an established fact that mothers longer working hours is associated as a higher risk for child becoming overweight, recent study has also suggested that fathers working hours (55 hours/week) strengthened the effect of mothers, 60 both working parents decrease the potential time given to the children for health promoting activities. Breast feeding is directly related to obesity risk and a clear dose response effect has been identified for its duration.…”