Mothers of young children are heavier and consumed more calories from sugary drinks and fatty foods than childless women, a new study has found.

According to one of the study’s authors, Sheri Lee Schearer, the results reflect her life with a 5-month-old son. Before motherhood, she made time to make salads. Now, as a stay-at-home mom, she grabs whatever is easiest and quickest, which are mostly easily prepared foods often high in fat and calories.

Co-author Jerica Berge of University of Minnesota suggested that doctors should be aware of these parents’ conditions so they can offer solutions, such as diet advice or parent-child exercise classes.

The study involved 1,520 adults aged 25 on average, including parents with children younger than 5 years old. They were among more than 4,000 Minneapolis-area public school students enrolled in a study in their teens; the new study includes those who responded to two follow-up health surveys and answered questions about their diet and activity.

According to the study published online Monday in the journal Pediatrics, results from over 1,520 adults aged 25 on average with children younger than five years old showed that dads and moms consumed more calories and exercised less than childless people.

Moms were also found to eat more fatty foods and drank about seven sugary drinks weekly, versus about four among childless women, and averaged on 2,360 calories daily, which is 368 calories more than women without children.

Dads ate about the same amount of daily calories as childless men and both had an average BMI of about 25, but they have lesser physical activities, compared to childless men with seven hours weekly.

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