Children who regularly sit down to family meals and get plenty of vegetables in their diet tend to be thinner than their peers.
Children who regularly sit down to family meals and get plenty of vegetables in their diet tend to be thinner than their peers.
It is generally believed that sitting down to a family dinner is good for children and some research evidences have also showed that having meals with the family helps to keep the children slim. However, few studies have looked at the relationship between children's weight and their diet patterns - which are more complex than sugar or fat intake.
To evaluate the association between children's weight and their diet and physical activity patterns, researchers interviewed 1,138 Greek children aged 9 to 13 years about their diets and physical activities, and used the information to identify five broad general diet and lifestyle patterns across the group. The patterns included dinner, cooked meals and vegetables pattern, an unstructured eating, fast food / sugary foods and sedentary lifestyle pattern, high fibre pattern, breakfast pattern, and exercise, fruits and vegetables pattern.
It was found that children who were in the dinner, cooked meals and vegetables pattern generally had a lower body mass index, or BMI - a standard measure of weight in relation to height used to gauge how fat or thin a person is. They also had smaller waistlines and less body fat than their peers. But, none of the other four diet and lifestyle patterns were associated with children's weight or body-fat levels.
The above findings suggest that the traditional habit of sitting down to a family dinner and having cooked food pattern stands as a potential preventive approach to combating childhood obesity, especially in view of the rising trend of childhood obesity seen around the globe.
It is generally believed that sitting down to a family dinner is good for children and some research evidences have also showed that having meals with the family helps to keep the children slim. However, few studies have looked at the relationship between children's weight and their diet patterns - which are more complex than sugar or fat intake.
To evaluate the association between children's weight and their diet and physical activity patterns, researchers interviewed 1,138 Greek children aged 9 to 13 years about their diets and physical activities, and used the information to identify five broad general diet and lifestyle patterns across the group. The patterns included dinner, cooked meals and vegetables pattern, an unstructured eating, fast food / sugary foods and sedentary lifestyle pattern, high fibre pattern, breakfast pattern, and exercise, fruits and vegetables pattern.
It was found that children who were in the dinner, cooked meals and vegetables pattern generally had a lower body mass index, or BMI - a standard measure of weight in relation to height used to gauge how fat or thin a person is. They also had smaller waistlines and less body fat than their peers. But, none of the other four diet and lifestyle patterns were associated with children's weight or body-fat levels.
The above findings suggest that the traditional habit of sitting down to a family dinner and having cooked food pattern stands as a potential preventive approach to combating childhood obesity, especially in view of the rising trend of childhood obesity seen around the globe.
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