父母引导健康饮食

It should come as no surprise that the more stressed parents are at work， the greater the burden on their family. Its also probably not a surprise that this dynamic can negatively affect a familys nutrition. After all， the more time parents spend working， the less time and energy they have to plan and prepare healthful meals.

Previously， most studies have focused on the role of working mothers. Now， a study that looks at the family as a whole， and at the role of fathers in particular， adds a new opinion to the relationship between work stress and family nutrition.

Mothers work related stress is still a central factor in how well families eat because they typically do most of the food shopping and cooking. But fathers work related stress has a large impact， too. The study found that when mom or dad experience high levels of work related stress， their families are eating one-and-a-half fewer family meals per week， and the parents themselves report eating fewer fruits and vegetables， more fast food， and are less likely to eat breakfast regularly.

Its worth noting that the study looked mainly at low income families who belonged to ethnic or minority groups， so the findings dont necessarily apply directly to other types of families. But the implications are wide ranging.

When it comes to family nutrition， the researchers say， the entire family， not just moms， plays a role， even kids. Teaching kids， especially teenagers， to help with grocery shopping and to cook actual meals， instead of just popping a frozen pizza in the microwave， could be an important piece of the puzzle in helping families improve their eating habits.

通常来说，父母的工作压力越大，他们背负的家庭负担也就越大。那么，这种状态会对家庭的饮食健康产生不良影响也就变得不足为怪了。毕竟当父母工作的时间越来越长时，他们在计划和准备健康饮食上所花费的时间和精力就会越来越少。

以前，大多数的研究关注的都是职场母亲的作用。现在，一项研究在观察家庭这一整体方面，特别是父亲在工作压力和家庭饮食的关系上增添了新的观点。

母亲的工作压力在家庭饮食上仍然起着重要作用，因为购物和做饭大多都由母亲负责。但是父亲的工作压力也会对家庭饮食产生很大影响。研究发现，当父母都承受着很大的工作压力时，他们家庭每周的用餐量会减少一顿半；同时父母自己也表示水果蔬菜会吃得更少，更多是吃快餐，一般也不会规律地吃早餐。

值得注意的是，这项研究主要针对少数低收入家庭，因此研究发现并不一定适用于其他家庭。但研究揭示的意义还是深远的。

谈到家庭饮食健康，研究人员表示，在一个家庭里，不仅仅母亲在饮食上起着作用，甚至孩子也会。在改善家庭饮食习惯中，十分重要的一点就是要教育孩子，特别是青少年去杂货店买东西并且学着做饭，而不是仅仅让他们把一块凉披萨放到微波炉里加热。