Researchers at the University of Iowa and the University of Michigan Health System analyzed data from a national nutrition survey of 6,600 adults aged 17 to 65 living with and without children under the age of 17.
Nutritionists asked detailed questions about what the adults and the rest of their family had eaten in the past 24 hours, and how often they ate high-fat foods.

Most family diet studies have focused on how adults influence children’s eating habits, but Dr. Helena Laroche, an associate professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Iowa, said her team wanted to consider how children or their habits might affect the food intake of adults living with them.

She and her colleagues report in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine that compared to adults living without children, those with kids in the home ate 4.9 grams more of fat daily, including 1.7 grams of saturated fat, which is particularly linked to heart disease. Adults with kids in the house were also more likely to eat foods such as cheese, ice cream, beef, pizza and salty snacks.

”These dietary choices may be due to time pressures, advertising aimed at children that also includes adults, or adults’ perception that children will eat only hot dogs or macaroni and cheese,” Laroche said. ”Once these foods are in the house, even if bought for the children, adults appear more likely to eat them.”

However, Laroche noted that the study ”doesn’t prove that the presence of children causes adults to eat more fat. People living with children may have different eating habits for many reasons. But this does demonstrate that healthy changes in eating need to focus on the entire household, not just individuals.”

Via Abilene Reporter News