Could kids be to blame for new parents' bad health habits? A study found that mothers of young children were heavier and ate more calories, sugary drinks and fatty foods than childless women. Dads and moms in the study were less active than their peers without kids.

難道新手父母健康習慣不好，罪魁禍首是孩子？一項研究發現，比起沒有孩子的婦女，剛生小貝比的母親往往體重過重，同時攝取更多熱量、含糖飲料和高脂食品。這項研究案例中的父母也比沒生孩子的父母不愛動。

Sheri Lee Schearer, 34, says the results reflect her life with a 5-month-old son. Before, when she worked as a paralegal, she had time to make a spinach salad or go out for one. Now, as a stay-at-home mom in southern New Jersey, she grabs whatever is easiest and quickest. “I often find that his needs come before mine,” she said. “Do I get to the gym? No. Do I eat always healthy? No.”

34歲的雪莉．李．席勒說，研究結果反映了她和5個月大兒子的生活現況。之前她曾擔任律師助理，她有時間自己動手做菠菜沙拉，或外食點這道菜。現在，身為新澤西州南部一個成天待在家裡的媽媽，她只能隨手抓最方便快速取得的食物。她說：「我經常發現，他的需要優於我的。我上健身房嗎？沒有。常吃健康食物嗎？沒有。」

Quick, easily prepared foods are often high in fat and calories. Parents who choose these foods may end up serving them to their children, perpetuating a cycle of unhealthy eating, the study authors said. The results are unlikely to be all that surprising to parents. Most of them know that finding time to exercise gets increasingly harder after junior arrives. Parents also often find themselves eating more unhealthy convenience foods or fast foods when their busy family life gets in the way.

這項研究的作者說，快速容易準備的食物往往含高脂肪、高熱量。父母選擇這些食品，最後可能也給孩子吃這些食物，而永遠形成不健康飲食的惡性循環。為人父母者對這項研究結果應該不會感到驚訝。他們大半都知道孩子報到後，愈來愈挪不出時間運動。家長往往發現，受限於忙碌的家庭生活，自己往往吃太多不健康的便利食品或速食。

“This isn't a study about blame,” said co-author Jerica Berge, a University of Minnesota researcher. “This is about identifying a very high-risk time period for parents that doctors should be aware of so they can offer solutions.” That may include diet advice, parent-child exercise classes, or just getting parents to take walks with their kids, the researchers said.

報告共同作者、明尼蘇達大學研究員潔莉卡．貝格說：「這項研究不在追究要責怪誰，而是要讓大家認清為人父母者一段風險極高的時段，醫生應該要知道，才能提供解決方案。」這可能包括飲食建議，親子運動班，或者就是請父母帶孩子一起出去散散步，研究人員說。

The study involved 1,520 adults aged 25 on average, including parents with children younger than 5 years old. They were among more than 4,000 Minneapolis-area public school students enrolled in a study in their teens; the new study includes those who responded to two follow-up health surveys and answered questions about their diet and activity.

這項研究調查平均年齡在25歲的1520名成年人，包括子女不到5歲的父母。他們涵蓋4000多名在明尼亞波利斯地區公立學校就讀的學生，他們從10來歲起就參與這項研究。新發表的研究包括那些回答兩項後續健康追查並回答飲食和活動問題者。

Results are published online recently in the journal Pediatrics. Mothers ate more fatty foods and drank about seven sugary drinks weekly, versus about four among childless women. Moms also had an average of 2,360 calories daily, 368 calories more than women without children. With that many calories, women that age would need to be active to avoid gaining weight, walking more than 3 miles daily at a moderate pace.

研究結果最近在小兒醫學期刊官網公布：媽媽攝取更多高脂食品，每周約喝7杯含糖飲料；相形之下，沒有子女的婦女約喝4杯。媽媽每天平均攝取2360卡熱量，比沒有孩子的婦女多了368卡。這麼高卡路里的熱量，這個年齡層的婦女要積極運動才能避免體重增加，每天要以普通步伐走3英里以上的路。

But mothers got on average a little more than two hours of at least moderate activity weekly, versus three hours weekly among childless women. Mothers had a slightly higher average body mass index than childless women — 27 versus 26. Healthy BMIs are in the 19-24 range. Fathers ate about the same amount of daily calories as childless men and both had an average BMI of about 25, but fathers got less physical activity — about five hours weekly, compared to almost seven hours among childless men.

但媽媽每周平均只做2個多小時溫和的活動，沒有子女的婦女每周平均運動3小時。媽媽的平均身體質量指數略高於沒有子女的女性：27比26，身體質量指數在19-24範圍內才健康。爸爸每天攝取的熱量和無子女的男子相當，雙方平均身體質量指數大約都是25，但爸爸體力活動較少，每周約5個小時，無子女的男子則運動將近7個小時。

The study has several limitations, the authors note. For example, the height, weight and activity levels were self-reported, and eating habits were tallied using a food-frequency questionnaire, so it's possible some of the responses weren't accurate. The study also didn't gather data on how many of the women had recently had babies, which might have affected their BMI ratings if they were will trying to lose the pregnancy pounds. There's also no information on the number of single parents, who likely face even more diet and exercise challenges than married parents.

但作者坦承這項研究有諸多限制，例如，身高、體重和活動水平由個案自行報告，飲食習慣使用食物頻率問卷計算，因此有些答覆可能失準。研究也沒有提供最近剛生貝比的婦女的數據，如果她們正試圖減掉懷孕所增加的磅數的話，這可能影響她們的身體質量指數評量結果。另外還有單親家長的資訊也付之闕如，比起已婚父母，單親父母更可能面臨飲食和運動方面的挑戰。

Schearer, the New Jersey new mom, said she's lost half the 40 pounds she gained while pregnant and doesn't care if she never loses that last 20 pounds. Becoming a mom “has been the best thing that ever happened to me,” she said. Photo shows five-month-old Oliver Michael DiCicco playing as his mother Sheri Lee Schearer, working nearby at a computer April 8, 2011, in Pennsville, N.J. Schearer says a study that found new mothers of young children were heavier and ate more calories, sugary drinks and fatty foods than childless women, reflects her life.

新澤西州新手媽媽席勒說，她懷孕後增重40磅，現在已經減掉20磅，她也不在乎後面剩下的20磅能不能減掉。她說，當媽媽「是曾發生在我身上最美好的事。」圖為5個月大的小奧利佛今年4月8日在位於新澤西州彭斯維爾的家中高興的玩耍，他媽媽雪莉．席勒則在身邊上電腦工作。席勒說，一項研究發現，孩子年幼的新手媽媽比無子女的婦女體重過重，而且易攝取更多熱量、含糖飲料和高脂食品，這多少反映了她的生活現況。（圖／美聯社）