Even in Australia
February 22, 2010
A team of public health researchers in Brisbane, Australia, studied 3,800 women with 14-year-old children. Of interest here is what they found out about obesity:
In families where the mother felt that eating meals together was important, the kids were a third less likely to be obese.
The researchers have several possible explanations: Parents who provide the food and sit with their offspring when they eat it have more control over what the kids actually eat. Families who eat together might be more likely to value good nutrition. Also, when children are expected to eat at regular mealtimes, they eat fewer snacks. And snacks tend to be more calorie-rich and nutrient-poor.
Yet another interpretation is that parents who provide regular meals may be providing their kids with more emotional support, so that they are less likely to use food as a crutch.
No simple answers, but lots to reinforce our understanding of the connections between health and sociable meals.
Mealtimes Matter Video
from Miriam Weinstein
About Miriam
Miriam Weinstein is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. As a journalist, she has won several awards from the New England Press Association. Her work has appeared in Boston Magazine, the Boston Globe magazine, Hope, and ParentSource. A former staff member for North Shore Weeklies and freelancer for Essex County Newspapers, she writes restaurant reviews and food columns as well as features on a wide variety of subjects. She lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts, with her husband and has two grown children.
The Surprising Power of Family Meals
In her book, The Surprising Power of Family Meals, Miriam Weinstein shows how this basic human institution helps nourish and strengthen our families today.