Jacqueline Miller1, Lily Chan2, Kaye Mehta3, Rachel Roberts4, Kacie M Dickinson5, Alison Yaxley6, Louisa Matwiejczyk7, Jolene Thomas8, Amanda Wray9, Kathryn Jackson10, Michelle Miller11. 1. Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, 5001, South Australia, Australia. Electronic address: jacqueline.miller@flinders.edu.au. 2. Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, 5001, South Australia, Australia. Electronic address: lily.chan@flinders.edu.au. 3. Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, 5001, South Australia, Australia. Electronic address: kaye.mehta@flinders.edu.au. 4. Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, 5001, South Australia, Australia. Electronic address: rjg.roberts@bigpond.com. 5. Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, 5001, South Australia, Australia. Electronic address: kacie.dickinson@flinders.edu.au. 6. Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, 5001, South Australia, Australia. Electronic address: alison.yaxley@flinders.edu.au. 7. Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, 5001, South Australia, Australia. Electronic address: louisa.matwiejczyk@flinders.edu.au. 8. Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, 5001, South Australia, Australia. Electronic address: jm.thomas@flinders.edu.au. 9. Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, 5001, South Australia, Australia. Electronic address: amanda.wray@flinders.edu.au. 10. Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, 5001, South Australia, Australia. Electronic address: kathryn.jackson@flinders.edu.au. 11. Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, 5001, South Australia, Australia. Electronic address: michelle.miller@flinders.edu.au.
Abstract
UNLABELLED: Women with children often fulfil multiple roles of running a household, raising a family and working outside the home. Good nutrition during this time is important to optimise their performance and prevent lifestyle diseases. Women also act as nutritional gatekeepers for their family. The dual burden of paid employment and unpaid family work may be associated with time scarcity in mothers which can impact food preparation and therefore nutritional adequacy. The aim of this study was to examine the diet of women who lived with children by comparison of hours worked. METHODS: This was a secondary analysis of the Australian National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey 2011-12. Subjects were women aged 18-65 years who resided with ≥1 child (<18 years). Women were grouped according to hours of employment: not working; working <25 h a week; and working ≥25 hours a week. Data from two 24-h dietary recalls were used to compare differences between groups in nutrient intake and proportion of energy from discretionary foods. Covariates included were age, education, smoker status, Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), number of persons in household, week or weekend day of the survey and the sequence of recalls. RESULTS: Analyses included 1869 women. Dietary intakes varied minimally between groups with intakes of fibre, vitamin C, and calcium lowest in the group not working. Overall diet quality was poor with >30% of energy coming from discretionary foods in all groups. CONCLUSIONS: Usual hours of employment per week have a minimal effect on diet quality in women with children. It is likely that different factors specific to each group contribute to the poor dietary intakes and should be further investigated.
UNLABELLED: Women with children often fulfil multiple roles of running a household, raising a family and working outside the home. Good nutrition during this time is important to optimise their performance and prevent lifestyle diseases. Women also act as nutritional gatekeepers for their family. The dual burden of paid employment and unpaid family work may be associated with time scarcity in mothers which can impact food preparation and therefore nutritional adequacy. The aim of this study was to examine the diet of women who lived with children by comparison of hours worked. METHODS: This was a secondary analysis of the Australian National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey 2011-12. Subjects were women aged 18-65 years who resided with ≥1 child (<18 years). Women were grouped according to hours of employment: not working; working <25 h a week; and working ≥25 hours a week. Data from two 24-h dietary recalls were used to compare differences between groups in nutrient intake and proportion of energy from discretionary foods. Covariates included were age, education, smoker status, Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), number of persons in household, week or weekend day of the survey and the sequence of recalls. RESULTS: Analyses included 1869 women. Dietary intakes varied minimally between groups with intakes of fibre, vitamin C, and calcium lowest in the group not working. Overall diet quality was poor with >30% of energy coming from discretionary foods in all groups. CONCLUSIONS: Usual hours of employment per week have a minimal effect on diet quality in women with children. It is likely that different factors specific to each group contribute to the poor dietary intakes and should be further investigated.
Authors: Julie C Martin; Lisa J Moran; Helena J Teede; Sanjeeva Ranasinha; Catherine B Lombard; Cheryce L Harrison Journal: Nutrients Date: 2017-06-08 Impact factor: 5.717