Family Meals: They Do Everyone Good

Discussion Family meals (FM) are “…occasions when food is eaten simultaneously in the same location by more than 1 family member.” Overall, more frequent family meals are protective for healthy physical and psychosocial functioning across socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity and gender. Why FMs have these protective effects (possibly related to family connectedness) is unclear and additional research is ongoing. Factors associated with increased FMs include: Increased parental education Gender – adolescent boys report more FM than adolescent females Race/ethnicity – Asian-Americans have more FM than whites who have more than African-Americans. Hispanics have more FMs. Children’s ages – younger children have more FMs than older children and adolescents Parenting style – mothers who are authoritative have more FMs The ideal FM environment is one that is positive, without arguments if possible and encourages communication among the family members. There should be no television or other electronic devices (including phones) in the room. Quiet music can help to set a positive mood for the meal. FMs do not have to be long and can be as short as 20 minutes. Barriers to FMs often cited are work and school/extracurricular schedules, lack of meal planning, not having a regular time set for meals, picky eaters, young children not able to sit through the meal, and family members being hungry at different times. Ways to overcome this inc...
Source: PediatricEducation.org - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news