Working mums are bad mums

Welcome to this week's first cautionary tale.

Headlines are blazing upon the announcement of data from a UK study declaring "Working mothers' children unfit". What do they mean? Oh well, that apparently women who work more than 20 hours per week end up with fat, lonely and basically maladjusted 5 year olds.

And they didn't even bother to look at the male partners because they decided that the women's working hours fluctuated more. Professor Catherine Law, who led the study, is careful to state that this study does not mean that women should not work, rather parents need to be better supported. But seriously. This is the same research group that found that children are more likely to be overweight by the age of 3 if their mothers work. These results will inevitably be used against women in some form or another.

Sally Russell, a spokesman for Netmums, said: "The stress and guilt associated with being a working mum is something we are all too well aware of. This report adds to that guilt.

"With many more mums having no choice but to work these days and with government policy actively encouraging it, it is difficult to know how mums can do better. "

We should be applauding mothers for returning to work and managing their households and not 1) not punishing them for working out of desire or necessity or 2) pitting women who work and women who do not work in paid employment against one another. This research, whether it was intented or not, only fuels already entrenched debates about motherhood and who is a 'good' mum and who is a 'bad' mum.

Teen pregnancy: makes you fat

Is anyone else disturbed by this headline?

Teen pregnancy boosts girls' risk of getting fat

Um, last time I checked, teen girls who get pregnant have a few other things to worry about becoming obese. You know, things like trying to not drop out of school.

Chicago helps to conquer prenatal obesity

A new program in Chicago at Northwestern Hospital is aiming to keep prenatal obesity in check (yes, PRENATAL OBESITY).

According to Dr. Robert Kushner, director of the Northwestern Comprehensive Center on Obesity,

"The whole idea is, as that child comes out of the birth canal, you've already imprinted that child's vulnerability to be overweight," Kushner said.

"It's like being born with handcuffs on. In this environment, how do they have a fighting chance?"

Each week women in the program meet for nutrition classes, stress and exercise. Focusing specifically on controlling maternal obesity, the hospital has already referred about 20 women so far.

Interesting, considering that new research reveals that Australian babies are larger than ever. This time, however, Dr. Ruth Hadfield of the University of Sydney, argues that big babies are not healthy, they are overweight. As maternal obesity has increased so too has birth weight.

Source: Helping babies beat obesity
Big Aussie babies

Carnie Wilson: blah blah blah

Famous for her struggles with weight loss and her very public experiences with gastric bypass surgery, Carnie Wilson (formerly of Wilson Phillips) is pregnant again and was talking about being a mum at 40 and gaining weight on The Bonnie Hunt Show yesterday.

Carnie reached her goal weight of 150lbs in October of 2008 and was featured in Ok! talking about her plans to get pregnant (which she did in Nov): http://www.okmagazine.com/news/view/8440

Oddly, however, in her chat with Bonnie Hunt, Wilson said:

"I am glad that I lost 50 lbs. before I got pregnant but honestly, I just push the big old pause button when I get pregnant."

Right. I hate to be the bearer of bad news here but isn't 'pushing the pause button' how you ended up being 208 lbs in the first place? That is not a comment intended to castigate people that are overweight. Rather, it annoys me that Carnie Wilson spends alot of time talking about eating healthfully and losing weight (in fact, she is probably more famous for her weight gain/losses than her singing career) and yet she throws that all by the wayside when she gets pregnant. She went to extraordinary lengths to lose weight in order to fall pregnant for the second time. According to Ok! she said her diet was quite strict:

"I’m not allowing myself anything that’s off my regimen: no sugar, no carbs, no dairy, no red meat, no flour of any kind. It’s really strict, but I like how it feels."

Pregnancy has clearly become an excuse for her to change her eating. She told Bonnie Hunt:

"I don't eat red meat anymore. Now I am just a cheese freak because of the pregnancy. I can't stop with the cheese. And bagels."

Rather than talking about what she is eating (or not eating) constantly, perhaps Wilson should just shut about it all and maybe people (like me!) wouldn't have to be annoyed with the flip-flopping between being the poster-girl for weight loss and the 'I-don't-care-give-me-another-block-of-cheese' pregnant woman. Honestly, if you are going to eat, eat. Stop justifying it to other people but on the other hand, stop pretending that it doesn't matter. Weight loss and weight gain so clearly do matter to Wilson. She's spent alot of time and money on surgery, diets and personal trainers.

Source: http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20251996,00.html

Vindication for fat?

I've spent a lot of time on this blog attempting to highlight the discrimination and resounding medical bias against obese pregnant women. A new Scottish study perhaps vindicates overweight pregnant women who have been denied access to IVF without losing weight prior to treatment. According to the study, maternal age is a more important factor than weight when it comes to the success of the procedure. Dr Abha Maheshwari, clinical lecturer in reproductive medicine at the University of Aberdeen, said they had expected costs to be higher in overweight and obese women. "Everybody should be encouraged to lose weight, but treatment shouldn't be declined on weight alone." Although there are still significant risks associated with maternal obesity (obese women have more miscarriages than women of average weight), some doctors argue that fertility drugs can help to overcome the negative effects of obesity on fertility.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7790561.stm