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Correlates of irregular family meal patterns among 11-year-old children from the Pro Children study

Torunn Holm Totland1, Markus Dines Knudsen1, Mari Mohn Paulsen1

  • 1Department of Nutrition, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.

Food & Nutrition Research
|July 7, 2017
PubMed

Insights

Most 11-year-olds eat family meals regularly, but irregular patterns are linked to less vegetable intake and more screen time. Promoting family meals may improve children's healthy habits.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Nutrition
  • Public Health
  • Childhood Development

Background:

  • Family meals are linked to healthier eating habits in children.
  • Barriers to regular family meal patterns in childhood are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To describe family meal patterns in 11-year-old European children.
  • To identify factors associated with irregular family breakfast and dinner consumption.

Main Methods:

  • Cross-sectional survey of 13,305 children from nine European countries in 2003.
  • Data collected on family meal frequency and related lifestyle factors.

Main Results:

  • 62% of children regularly ate family breakfast; 90% regularly ate family dinner.
  • Irregular family meals correlated with lower vegetable consumption.
  • Irregular family breakfasts were associated with increased television viewing.
  • Socioeconomic differences were noted in family breakfast regularity.

Conclusions:

  • The majority of children participate in regular family breakfasts and dinners.
  • Interventions promoting family meals could foster healthier eating and activity habits across socioeconomic strata.
  • Addressing barriers to family meals may support population-level health improvements.

Keywords:
Irregular family mealschildrenfruit and vegetable intakescreen timesocial differences

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