Children of working mothers get more of their food away from home at restaurants, day care and school than children of stay-at-home moms. But that doesn't necessarily mean the quality of their diet suffers.

A new study shows that the mother's employment affects where children get their food as well as the nutritional content of their diets. But children of stay-at-home moms and those who worked part time didn't necessarily get better nutrition than children of mothers who worked full time.

We found that, when the female head of household was employed, the youngest children, the 2- to 5-year-olds, consumed fewer calories at home, including fewer servings of fruits and vegetables and calcium-rich foods from home, says researcher Sibylle Kranz, PhD, RD, assistant professor of nutritional sciences at Penn State University, in a news release. However, they consumed more calories, calcium, fruits, and vegetables from school, probably as the result of the children participating in daycare programs that provide meals.

The results of the study were presented this week at a meeting of the American Public Health Association in Philadelphia.

In the study, researchers looked at the impact of maternal working status on the food sources and nutritional content of the diets of more than 9,000 U.S. children aged 2 to 18 surveyed by the United States Department of Agriculture.