Working Mothers Cook Fewer Meals: Study

Mothers who work full time are too busy and cook fewer meals and are more likely to serve fast food as meals to their children, says study.

The higher the work/life stress the less likely it is for families to eat together.

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Highly stressed parents are preparing only four meals a week at home, compared with 5 and half meals for those who are not stressed.

Mothers who work full time spend 8.8 hours a week cooking and preparing meals, as opposed to 11 and a half hours put by those who are not employed.

Similarly, fathers who work full time also spend less time preparing meals.

Fast Foods
Fast foods contain as much as 500 calories per serve which is even higher than the calories that a lunch or dinner should provide. Majority of Indians have a flawed perception of healthy food options.

Those who do not work at all or work part time spend 7.4 hours a week preparing food, compared with 4.7 hours for those who work full time.

Lead researcher Dr Katherine Bauer of Temple University said reducing parents' work/life stress could benefit family food.

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"Engaging all (the) family ... in meal preparation can also alleviate the burden on working women," News.co.au quoted Dr Bauer as saying.

Dietitian Kate di Prima sees full time working parents as those who are "time-strapped and not as organised as they would like to be to cook every night".

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Commuting to work seems to take up a lot of time for women, leaving them much more stressed out than men.

"Many people see cooking as very labour-intensive and tiring at night and so it goes to the bottom of the priority pile and they end up ringing up for pizza," she added.

Source-ANI