Family Life

04.11.11 | Sarah Harnisch

  A new study out shows having kids under the age of 5-- makes parents less fit. The University of Minnesota study found that mothers of young children were heavier and ate 370 more calories a day, drank more sugary drinks and ate fattier foods than childless women did. Dads and moms in the study were less active than their peers without kids. Moms said they were prone to grabbing more fast food, and dads said they only exercized 5 hours a week, compared to the 7 hours of childless men. The study involved 15-hundred adults under 25 years old, with kids younger then 5. Reseachers say it clues parents in that having kids is a "high risk period" in their lives-- a time to gain weight, unless they stay on top of it.