Survey: Parents spend 37 hours a week worrying about their kids

NEW YORK — From mischievous behavior to flu outbreaks to bad grades in school, do you find yourself constantly worrying about your kids? If so, you’re far from alone. A new survey finds that parents spend a whopping 37 hours a week stressing over their children.

Broken down by the day, that means moms and dads burn five hours and 18 minutes daily feeling worried. The survey, commissioned by Lice Clinics of America, asked 2,000 parents about the things that worry them the most, along with how frequently they find themselves agonizing over their kids.

With so much worrying, it’s no surprise that 54 percent of parents think parenting is harder than they’d expected before having kids.

So what did parents find themselves obsessing over the most? Ninety-five percent of participants agree their child’s physical health was their greatest worry.

Concerns were found to be so bad for some that six in 10 participants admit to having lost sleep from time to time from thinking bout their children. More than anything, their child’s safety caused them to toss and turn the most, followed by wonders over their child’s level of happiness. Fears that their child may be the victim of bullying was the third biggest worry leading people to lose sleep.

Of course, with the survey being sponsored by the Lice Clinics of America, lice was a focal point of the survey. And rightfully so: about 1 in 4 parents (27 percent) worried their child will come home from school infested with the creepy crawlers. Overall, lice was found to be the third on the list of “Top Parenting Nightmares” tallied from the survey.

“Parents are concerned about their kids coming home from school with a myriad of things and are looking for easy and convenient solutions to help them with some of the hardest to deal with issues- like lice,” says Dr. Krista Later, the Medical Director of Lice Clinics of America, in a release.

Understandably, head back to school brings about more anxiety for parents. Seven in 10 admit their day-to-day level of worrying increases when their kids return to the classroom.

What’s the rest of the back-to-school list of worries look like?

TOP 10 BACK TO SCHOOL PARENTAL WORRIES:

That children are safe 48%
Whether children are happy 44%
Whether children will be bullied 43%
If children are keeping up in class 41%
Getting good grades 39%
How well children will fit in with others 36%
Whether children are eating okay 30%
That children are enjoying their childhood 28%
How easily children will be able to make friends 27%
Coming home with lice 27%

And of course the aforementioned list of parental nightmares.

TOP 10 PARENTING NIGHTMARES:

Kid coming home with broken/sprained limb 41%
Kid coming home with a broken heart 40%
Kid coming home with lice 36%
Kid coming home with chicken pox 33%
Kid coming home with a broken/sprained finger 31%
Kid coming home with strep throat 29%
Kid coming home with an allergic reaction 29%
Kid coming home with the flu/cold 27%
Kid coming home with pink eye 26%
Kid coming home with broken glasses 16%

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