Teens who eat with family stay healthy
A recent research shows that teenagers who eat dinner with their parents are more likely to eat fruits, vegetables and dairy foods than those who usually eat without the company of their parents.
A recent research shows that teenagers who eat dinner with their parents are more likely to eat fruits, vegetables and dairy foods than those who usually eat without the company of their parents.
Researchers from the Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA, analysed dietary information from more than 18,000 adolescents who were involved in the ongoing National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.
It was found that twenty percent of the adolescents usually skipped breakfast. More than 70 percent of the adolescents said that they had eaten fewer than two vegetable servings the previous day; 55 percent said they had eaten fewer than two servings of fruits; and 47 percent said they had eaten fewer than two servings of dairy foods. Those who reported eating more than three meals a week with at least one parent present, however, were more likely to eat breakfast regularly and more likely to report healthier eating habits.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services recommend that older children and adults should eat three to five servings of vegetables, two to four servings of fruit and two to three servings of dairy foods every day. Adolescents who reported eating four or five weekly meals with their parents were about 20 percent less likely than their peers to skip fruits, vegetables and dairy foods. Also, the researchers noted that their fruit, vegetable and dairy consumption increased along with their number of family meals. Nearly 70 percent ate at least four family meals per week, but about 30 percent of the teens said they ate fewer than three meals with a parent present. Teenagers who were allowed to make their own decisions about what they ate were 25 percent more likely to skip breakfast, but they were no more likely than their peers to report a poor intake of fruits, vegetables or dairy products.
Therefore, parents should not control what food adolescents are allowed to eat, but instead offer healthy options at mealtimes and set an example of good eating habits. Parents should make an effort to coordinate schedules and bring the family together for mealtimes that provide healthy choices.
Journal of Adolescent Health, June 2003; Vol. 32
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