A study just published in The Journal of Pediatrics is entitled The Protective Role of Family Meals for Youth Obesity.
A study just published in The Journal of Pediatrics is entitled The Protective Role of Family Meals for Youth Obesity.
Researchers from the University of Minnesota and Columbia University used data from a 10-year study involving nearly 2,300 adolescents who answered lifestyle questions as a part of a survey called Project EAT (Eating and Activity among Teens). Increasing teen obesity in the U.S. has led to calls for action from the public health community, and the urgent need to help reverse the trend of our nation’s increasing obesity problem. In this study researchers wanted to see if it could be shown that frequent family meals during the teen years might protect against teenage and subsequent adult obesity. The thinking is that family meals might protect against obesity because the meal might be more likely to be healthful, and teenagers will also experience parental modeling of healthier eating.
Of teenagers who reported that their family never ate meals together, 60% were overweight and 29% were obese at the end of the 10 year study period. Overall, greater family meal frequency significantly reduced the odds of being overweight or obese, compared with those who never at with their families. It was found that even having only 1 or 2 family meals per week made a significant difference.
Lead researcher Jerica M. Berge, PhD, says “Informing parents that even having 1 or 2 family meals per week may protect their child from overweight or obesity in young adulthood would be important.”
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