Washington Researchers have shed light on the growing scientific evidence that fewer family meals may translate to increased obesity risk and poor nutritional status, particularly among children.
Over 40 percent of the typical Ameri
can food budget is spent on eating out, with family meals often being relegated to holidays and special occasions.
Aside from negative effects on the family budget, eating out has been shown to be generally associated with poor food choices and bad health.
But getting this message out to busy parents in a way that will convince them to spend more time at the dining room table with their children is problematic at best.
To both summarize what is known about this timely topic and create a that might be used to educate parents and other caregivers as to the importance of family mealtimes, researchers at Rutgers recently evaluated results from 68 previously published scientific reports considering the association between family mealtime and childrens health. They specifically looked at how frequency or atmosphere of family meals was related to consumption of both healthy foods The researchers also evaluated if scientific evidence actually supports the idea that more frequent family meals can lead to decreased obesity.
Their review of the literature revealed numerous benefits to children associated with having frequent family meals, including increased intake of fruits, vegetables, fiber, calcium- rich foods, and vitamins.
Although the researchers found only a weak link between family meals and obesity risk, children in families with frequent family meals tended to have lower body mass index ( BMI, kg/ m2) than those who enjoyed fewer family meals.
The research team was also able to create a simple conceptual image that condensed their findings in a user- friendly fashion, and hope to test the effectiveness of this graphic with parents and other caregivers in the near future. Clearly, the scientific literature represents a vast store of valuable information that could help families make better decisions about food choices.
