Adults with kids eat more fat

IOWA CITY, Iowa, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- If you live with children, you probably eat more fats than other adults, researchers at the University of Iowa said Friday.

Helena Laroche, a associate in internal medicine and pediatrics, said her study looked at how children influenced adult fat intake -- as opposed to most studies that looked at how adult diets influenced children's fat consumption.

"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. However, an important implication of the study is that healthy changes in eating need to focus on the entire household, not just individuals. Healthcare professionals must also help families find ways to fit healthy foods into their busy lifestyles," Laroche said.

The study, based on government's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (NHANES III), will appear in the Jan. 4, 2007, online edition of the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.

Laroche analyzed questionnaires given to 6,600 adults ages 17 to 65 living with and without children under age 17.

Compared to adults living without children, adults living with children ate an additional 4.9 grams of fat daily, including 1.7 grams of saturated fat. Saturated fat is linked to heart disease. Adults with children in the home were also more likely to eat foods such as cheese, ice cream, beef, pizza and salty snacks. Over a month, that amount of fat equals about 5 ounces.

"Adults with children in the home ate more of those snacks and other foods that we considered convenience foods," Laroche said. "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. Once these foods are in the house, even if bought for the children, adults appear more likely to eat them."