Mothers who go to work after the birth of a child gain weight faster
Last reviewed: 27.11.2021
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Scientists managed to trace the relationship between the entry of young mothers to work and the appearance of excess weight. The attention was paid to the inhabitants of countries with small and medium standard of living and financial security.
Why do moms who go to work after childbirth quickly gain extra pounds?
UN experts developed a comprehensive program, which was named Millennium Development Goals. The goal of creating such a program was to improve people's health and confront poverty in poor countries. Among the planned tasks was also the provision of work for women, who have small children.
As practice showed, the employment of young mothers was successfully carried out: women began to leave the decree at a convenient time for them, and successfully continued their careers. But there were also certain problems that had not previously been anticipated: women, due to stress and congestion, became more inattentive to their health and appearance. "If you consider all the likely consequences of obesity, then the alarm should be beaten as early as possible," US scientists said.
Specialists conducted a study in which women from 38 countries with a small and medium standard of living took part. In total, more than 160,000 working mothers were involved in the experiment in the middle age group from 18 to 49 years. At that time, their younger children were less than five years old. Scientists were interested in such moments as the type of profession, the level of education, age, marital status, the total number of children in the mother.
As a result, it was noted that working mothers, officially employed, had a 30% higher risk of developing obesity. However, there are nuances: this indicator depends on a specific country. For example, in Ethiopia it is 4.3%, and in Egypt - about 80%.
Moms with insufficient education quickly gained weight, compared with more educated contemporaries.
Among the additional factors, scientists have identified the following:
- with the access to work, women began to receive more money, respectively - they began to buy more products;
- the constant workload triggers the appearance of unhealthy eating habits, snacks with fast food and half-finished products;
- because of the constant employment of women do not find time "for themselves" - for example, to make an elementary charge.
So is it worth going to work after childbirth as early as possible? Weigh all the pros and cons. Of course, a few extra pounds after the birth of a child are considered quite natural, but in this situation it is more difficult: according to scientists, women are subjected to a strong stress load, as a result of which the weight grows rapidly. And the excess kilograms, in turn, provoke the appearance of serious malfunctions with health.
A detailed report on the work done by the scientists published in the International Journal of Behavioral Activity.
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