Moms change eating habits
2008-04-16 07:24
New York - Women have fewer eating
problems after having children compared with their peers who
remain childless, largely because they stop drinking as much
and behave less impulsively, according to new findings from
Norway.
These findings may not hold true for women living in
countries with less generous systems for supporting parents
with young children, say Tilmann von Soest of Norwegian Social
Research in Oslo and Dr Lars Wichstrom of the Norwegian
University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, the study's
authors.
"In less supportive environments I would expect that
parents are exposed to more stressors of, for instance, a
financial and psychological nature," von Soest told Reuters
Health via e-mail.
"Such exposure to stressors may counteract
the positive influence of changed lifestyle when becoming a
mother."
Von Soest and Wichstrom followed 1 206 initially childless
women for six years to determine whether becoming a mother had
any influence on eating behaviour.
Women did show less disordered eating after having
children, which the researchers found was largely due to a
reduction in impulsive behaviour and a drop in alcohol use. But
while women who remained childless showed increased
satisfaction with their appearance over time, women who became
mothers did not.
Based on the findings, von Soest said, it's possible that
reducing alcohol use and taking other steps to create a more
stable lifestyle could help people to overcome eating
disorders.