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Family Circle Magazine and the Clinton Health Matters Initiative Release

Exclusive Survey Highlighting the Stresses of Being an American Mom

New York, NY (September 9, 2014) -- According to an exclusive national survey conducted by Family Circle magazine in partnership with the Clinton Health Matters Initiative, an initiative of the Clinton Foundation dedicated to improving health and well-being, stay-at-home moms and working moms reported nearly the same levels of tension. Released today, the survey reveals the stressors that are keeping many American moms up at night—and how these women can get some much-needed peace of mind. The survey results are revealed in the October 2014 issue of Family Circle (http://bit.ly/1xy2qcy), on newsstands Tuesday, September 9.

“It is important to recognize that stress is a driver of our overall health.  Increasing our awareness of stress makes it more likely we can reduce it” said Rain Henderson, CEO of the Clinton Health Matters Initiative. “It is helpful for moms and families alike to identify common stressors so they can address them with family and physicians to lead healthy, less stressed lives.”

Top Sources of Stress

From healthy diets and homework to financial security and finding alone time, the below tasks stress moms out:

• 71% -- Keeping on top of the housework.
• 60% -- Maintaining their physical appearance.
• 40% -- Finding time for friends.
• 32% -- Making a good impression on other moms.

Stress Relates to Age of Children

Whether the kids are toddlers or teens, being a mother is always a full-time job:

• 69% of all moms polled report that being a mom is stressful.  
• 63% of moms with 13-to-15 year-olds report that being a mother is stressful.
• Moms of teen girls are the least pressed of all.

De-Stressors That Don’t Work

Not all women are taking the same strides to combat stress. According to some moms, getting it on and pumping iron don’t always relieve their stress:

• 30% of moms report school vacations and summer breaks don’t reduce their stress level.
• A surprising 28% of ‘very stressed’ moms report having sex just makes them feel more pressured.
• Nearly one-in-four moms (21%) report hitting the gym doesn’t decrease stress levels.

Negative Coping Mechanisms to Combat Stress

‘Very stressed’ moms reported doing too much of the below activities to blow off steam:

• Almost half (43%) of very stressed moms admit to yelling at their children.
• 41% of very stressed moms admit to eating for comfort.
• Nearly one-in-four (26%) of very stressed moms admit to smoking.

Working Moms Aren’t Alone

According to the survey, stay-at-home moms and working moms reported nearly the same levels of tension. The moms included in the survey really worry more about:

• Keeping up with the housework than keeping up their physical appearance.
• Finding time for themselves than making time for their friends
• Being a mom than being a wife.

“We know moms are stressed—what we didn't know was how many, why and what these women do to manage it,” said Vice President/Editor-in-Chief Linda Fears. “By partnering with the Clinton Health Matters Initiative, we were able to identify common pressures on moms and offer stress management solutions to our 18 million readers.”

The survey is available in the October 2014 issue of Family Circle magazine, on newsstands September 9. Additional survey statistics are available for review. All editors are available for interviews.

Survey Methodology

On behalf of Family Circle and the Clinton Health Matters Initiative, Ipsos Public Affairs conducted a nationwide online survey of 1,001 mothers ages 18 and older from April 23 to May 8, 2014. The estimated margin of error for the survey is +/- 3.1 percentage points.

About Family Circle

Family Circle offers women engaging content, delicious recipes, candid advice and the peace of mind to raise a happy, healthy family. Reaching 18 million readers each month via an award-winning print magazine, robust website, tablet editions and social networks, Family Circle understands what inspires women and encourages them to celebrate life’s milestones. Family Circle is the longest-running title sponsor of the Family Circle Cup, the largest women’s-only tennis tournament in the world. The event is held annually at Family Circle Magazine Stadium in Charleston, SC.  Family Circle is published twelve times a year by Meredith Corporation [NYSE: MDP] with a circulation of four million.

Additional information is available at www.familycircle.com | Facebook: facebook.com/familycirclemag | Twitter: twitter.com/familycirclemag | Pinterest: pinterest.com/familycirclemag | Instagram: instagram.com/familycirclemag

About the Clinton Foundation

The Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation convenes businesses, governments, NGOs, and individuals to improve global health and wellness, increase opportunity for women and girls, reduce childhood obesity, create economic opportunity and growth, and help communities address the effects of climate change.  Because of our work, 20,000 American schools are providing kids with healthy food choices in an effort to eradicate childhood obesity; 28,000 farmers in Malawi have improved their incomes by more than 500 percent; 248 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions are being reduced in cities worldwide; more than 5,000 people have been trained in marketable job skills in Colombia; 8.2 million people have access to lifesaving HIV/AIDS medications; $200 million in strategic investments have been made, impacting the health of 75 million people in the U.S.; and members of the Clinton Global Initiative have made nearly 2,900 Commitments to Action to improve more than 430 million lives around the world.

Learn more at http://www.clintonfoundation.org, on Facebook at Facebook.com/ClintonFoundation and on Twitter @ClintonFdn.