Some people are claiming that the main reason for childhood obesity is because both parents are working, and in particular because mothers are no longer home to send their children out to play, and being too busy to cook so they take their children out for fast food. To me this is an example of so-called “experts” skewing statistics to prove an opinion based on assumptions and bias without any scientific facts or quantitative data proving a causal relationship.

I am a workng mother of a 12 year old son and have observed the development of more than one hundred kids in his pre-school. elementary school and middle school. I have seen that you don’t have to be a working parent to feed your kids junk, or maintain a sedentary life style which sets the example for your children.

I work and I can still make sure my son gets physical exercise, eats healthy, gets outside, and still be in good physical condition. He has friends whose mothers are stay at home moms who are still sedentary, sit on the computer or playstation, game cube etc. all day and eat lots of candy and junk food. I have yet to see statistics that prove that mothers who stay at home spend all their time cooking wholesome meals, being physically active with their kids, or send their kids out to play more than mothers who work.

This is an insult and slam not only to mothers who work but also to stay at home moms. It infers that mothers who stay at home are less busy than mothers who work and spend all of their time making sure their kids don’t gain weight. This so-called study is another example of people who believe that a “womans place is in the home” and not in the workplace.

I have seen that there is less physical education being taught in the schools, too many schools have had to cut after school sports and music programs because of lack of funds, and many other parents whether they work in the home or outside no longer feel safe just sending their kids out to play.

My son plays on the computer, and playstation but he also skateboards, break dances, rides his bike and walks with me. We take our dog on hikes and he does all of these things with kids whose parents also work. He eats some candy and junk food but he also eats plenty of fruit, fresh vegatables and whole grains.

I don’t understand this mentality that insists on making a competition over who is a better mother, women who stay home or women who work. Many women I know have done both at different stages of their life and their childrens life. There are reasons that some women stay home and some women work and neither factor ensures good or bad parenting, or the elimination of childhood obesity. It is a societal and cultural problem in the US. Why don’t we start by taking out all junk food in the school cafeterias, serving healthy food that tastes good at lunch, educating parents and kids, and increasing funding for physical education and after school programs for our kids.