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Changes in diet behavior when adults become parents

When adults become parents, their lifestyle changes, and their eating habits might be affected. The lifestyle-related chronic diseases are increasing among adults and children every year. Children diet and food preference are most of the time affected by parents’ diet behavior. On the other hand, parents diet might change as a result of having children. There are several factors associated with this issue, mainly: finance and time management.

A cross sectional study by Laroche et al., (2012) was designed to measure the dietary habits of adults before they become parents and up to 7 years of having a child. The aim was to see weather their diet pattern will change when they become a parent. They measured total energy intake, percent of energy from saturated fats, servings of fruit and vegetables, sugar-sweetened beverages per day, and fast food intake per month. This study failed to find significant difference before and after parenting. Energy intake increased by 80 calories but this was not significant.

Many studies found that food choices and meal pattern of parents are most of the times influenced by their children.  Some times parents choose to eat at certain restaurants because their child likes it, or they will buy certain food items in grocery because of their child preference. Also, some non-healthy options such as convenient food or fast foods are less expensive (affordable) and easy to get when parents are working and they don’t have time to prepare meals ( i.e. Less time and money). In a study that was done in Finland, they found that diet behavior improved after adult became a parent; one of the suggested factors was that women receive extended paid leave for child rearing. Further studies need to examine the change of diet quality and provide strategies for parents to manage their diet, which will have positive impact on both parents and children health.


Reference:
Laroche, H. H., Wallace, R. B., Snetselaar, L., Hillis, S. L., & Steffen, L. M. (2012). Changes in diet behavior when adults become parents. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 112(6), 832-839.



AA

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