It is not surprising that heavy consumption of high fat convenience foods has resulted in a weight problem among many of these low-income families. Lynne's and Beth's children were assessed by their physicians and told that they are overweight. Beth, Michelle and Andrea are also heavy set and get little physical exercise. In contrast, Jill and her son are both lean and physically active. Likewise, Julie is active with her children in various sports, "There's a lot of parents around that sees me always constantly doing things with my kids outdoors…Baseball, soccer, you know. Hockey…Even in the winter time, I go skating with the kids."

Bedtime routines

In terms of establishing bedtime routines and ensuring that their children are well-rested for school, this too is an area of little concern for some parents in the study, while for other families there are well-established routines. Several parents in the study participate in evening activities outside of the home, such as darts, bingo and bowling leagues, and are often out on school nights at their children's bedtime. They also did not have a consistent babysitter with whom they could establish the routines. Jane, however, is one parent who ensures that her children are on a schedule. She describes the bedtime routine as follows "we read bedtime stories every night, we say a little prayer and then we give a hug and a kiss goodnight, and 'see you in the morning'".

The home visits reveal that all of the families have at least two or three large colour television sets with cable, a videocassette recorder and extensive videotape movie collections. Many of the children have television sets or electronic games in their bedrooms and stay up late at night entertaining themselves with these. Natalie has provided her sons with video games, "He's got Sega Genesis in his room so he plays a bit with that." Lynne and Jane have two television sets in their living rooms with one connected to a Sony Play Station video game. Jane reports that she and her children typically watch at least one movie a day, often to settle them down after supper, "It's like a quiet thing they…they watch a movie."