- According to a new poll, 1 in 5 parents reported feeding their children fast food more often than they did prior to the pandemic.
- Parents of children with overweight reported eating out at least twice a week.
- Reasons given included being too busy or too stressed.
- However, experts say a healthy meal at home does not have to be complicated or time-consuming.
- They suggest that working on healthy behaviors rather than dieting is the best approach for kids.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many families have found opportunities for healthier eating and more physical activity.
However, for others, it has meant increased stress and less movement as homes shifted to being both school and workplace.
This has also made it more difficult for parents to find the time or energy to always prepare nutritious meals at home.
According to the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health, about 1 in 5 parents reported that their kids had started to eat fast food more often than prior to the pandemic.
The poll, which included responses from 2,019 parents of children aged 3 to 18, further reported that about 1 in 6 parents said that their child eats fast food at least twice a week.
Parents who reported that their children with overweight were about twice as likely to also say that their children ate fast food twice a week, compared with parents who reported that their child was a healthy weight for their age and height.
When asked why they weren’t able to prepare meals at home, about 40 percent of parents said that they were simply too busy.
About a fifth of parents reported feeling too stressed.
These barriers to healthy eating were reported most often among those families with children with overweight.
Source: healthline