More family meals, less obesity? Maybe

Most health experts are champions of family meal time, saying that it not only promotes good eating habits, but also fosters better communication and contributes to that all-important quality time.

But does it also help curb childhood obesity? Maybe.

Research published in the August issue of the journal Obesity tracked family meals and weight levels among younger and older adolescents for five years. Among 2,516 demographically mixed middle and high schoolers, little correlation was seen between frequency of family meals and being overweight, except among one group — younger teen girls.

At the beginning of the study, middle school girls who never ate meals with their families were about three times more likely to be overweight, after controlling for age, race and socioeconomic status. After controlling for more factors, including physical activity and calorie intake, the rate was virtually the same. However, after five years there was no significant correlation. No other links were found in older girls, or younger or older boys, between family meal frequency and being overweight.

"I was hoping we’d find a significant relationship so that kids who eat more meals with their families were at less risk for being overweight," says the study’s lead author Jayne Fulkerson, associate professor in the school of nursing at the University of Minnesota. "But we don’t know what people are eating at meals. The family that’s eating dinner at McDonald’s might have great communication and quality time together, but that meal nutritionally isn’t going to prevent them from being overweight."

Although Fulkerson isn't sure why things change as girls get older, for younger teen girls, "Food is a bigger issue, and this is showing that when they’re younger, eating meals together is helpful for them."

She adds that this shouldn’t be a message to parents to ditch family meals altogether: "Parents should be aware that there are some good benefits to eating meals with kids. Kids who eat with their parents might have better dietary intake, and they can learn good eating habits. Even if we don’t know what they’re eating at meals — and they should be offering healthful things like fruits and vegetables — the psycho-social benefits are great."

Fulkerson is currently at work on a pilot study to determine what families do eat at mealtime.

-- Jeannine Stein

Photo credit: Gina Ferazzi / L.A. Times