Women in Business

Can childhood obesity be connected with working moms? I doubt it. I think the reasons are more similar to the sources of increase in adult obesity. Yes it's a different world but ask our parents and grandparents and you will hear the same refrain. We make decisions and have the ability to model good behavior every day. I am self employed and can be working from home, at a client for a few hours, facilitate an all day session or occasionally travel. It's not hard to find healthy food that can be prepared quickly. Last night my younger child had turkey meatballs with tomato sauce that I microwaved and a salad I poured out of a bag. And yes he ate this on the way to swim team practice after homework and playing with a friend. Perfect, far from it. Do we try to sit down for the recommended family dinners? Yes when all the stars are aligned. My kids get instructions on the healthy choices when I am not around and I make sure they have milk or fruit with their cookies when I am. Do I lapse? Certainly, try 5 hours of airport delays and french fries and hot dogs were the dinner of choice over the salad I know I should have eaten. And the boys love pizza if there is too much going on. Exercise patterns are like eating. If a parent has the TV on all the time guess what the child will do? If the parent takes a bike out and invites a child along or says yes when the child asks this sets the right pattern. I think we can strike a balance and instill the same good habits that we should be maintaining.

Wow, first of all, I can't even imagine how it must have felt to have a child go missing! I don't believe that fear must ever go away. I'm sorry you went through this. I can absolutely see how it is easier to pick something up in your circumstances. My mom was a single mother as well, worked three jobs, and we did the same at times. She also cooked, though, when she had the time. Of course, as a kid I was more than happy to live on mac and cheese and some other foods that would probably not be considered healthy in today's standards! Yet as you said, I do believe that a lot of today's problems are related to not getting enough exercise. I was always outside playing. And I can see how the involvement of extracurricular activities, which is important for development, can almost cause some issues with the diet! How do you cook a meal when you work until 6, pick the kids up, need to bathe and feed them and get them in bed at a decent hour? It's a tough situation. I'm so glad you shared your comments! For me, I think that the obesity problem is based on many facets, but can't be blamed completely on the fact that mothers are out there in the workforce.

I can see both sides of this argument. I am a single mother who raised 3 boys, now grown. For the majority of their lives, I worked outside the home. I can honestly say that there were times when I got off late from work and rushed to get the kids from daycare before the "late charge" took up my whole check. I was more prone to picking up something for dinner just to save some time knowing that we still had the normal nightly routine to go through. I have heard now of companies that actually home cook your meals and you can stop and pick them up on your way home. Wow! What a concept! I'm afraid I would have used them quite often! It seemed as time went on the later we ended up eating because of working outside the home. You also have to consider that when your kids are involved in extra curricular activities you have that to contend with as well. I'm not saying that I stopped cooking, I did actually cook most of the time, but as they were growing and our schedules conflicted more and more, it was easier some nights to eat out. With all that being said, I see the other side of it as well. Just because I picked up dinner sometimes doesn't mean that I didn't feed my children properly. I think in today's society there have been many changes that have caused the obesity problem in children. The number one culprit? EXERCISE! When I was growing up we never watched television when we got home from school. As a matter of fact, I don't think we ever even thought of it. We ran out to play with our friends and hated to come inside. Kids today don't do this. I used to argue with my kids about this, until one of them went missing. It was at that point that I realized society was not the same, and it is even worse today. You can't let your children just run outside and play anymore without someone keeping a relatively close eye on them. Television may be a part of it, but I think society and how it has changed as a whole is a huge part of the problem. (And I did find my son, but that didn't lessen the anguish I felt at that time or the thoughts going through my head at what might have happened.) ...

I totally agree that it is better to be nice, especially if you are in a position of power. The second manager sure knew how to start off with his new employees. I think managers should always have an open door policy where employees can come speak with them about ideas or problems without feeling as if they will be betrayed or belittled. What do you think of an open door policy? Do you think there should be a strict way that this is handled?

So true!