Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
ResearchOriginal ResearchEating Breakfast and Dinner Together as a Family: Associations with Sociodemographic Characteristics and Implications for Diet Quality and Weight Status
Section snippets
Study Design and Population
The EAT 2010 (Eating and Activity in Teens) study was designed to examine dietary intake, physical activity, weight-control behaviors, weight status, and factors associated with these outcomes in adolescents.19 Classroom-administered surveys, food frequency questionnaires (FFQ), and anthropometric measures were completed by 2,793 adolescents during the 2009-2010 academic year. The study population includes adolescents from 20 public middle schools and high schools in the Minneapolis/St Paul
Frequency of Eating Together at Breakfast and Dinner
On average, adolescents reported eating together with “all or most” of their family 1.5 times (SD=2.1) at breakfast and 4.1 times (SD=2.6) at dinner in the past week. Frequency of eating breakfast together over the past week was as follows: never (53.0%, n=1,450), one or two times (26.2%, n=718), three to six times (12.9%, n=352), and seven times (7.9%, n=217). Frequency of eating dinner together over the past week was more common: never (14.4%, n=395), one or two times (17.8%, n=487), three to
Discussion
This study described patterns of eating family meals at breakfast and dinner as well as associations with nutrition outcomes and weight status among a population of adolescents from diverse sociodemographic backgrounds. The results suggest that, on average, family breakfast meals occur less often than family dinners (1.5 breakfast meals vs 4.1 dinner meals per week), but participation in family meals was found to vary widely according to sociodemographics. Participation in more frequent family
Conclusions
The study results indicate that family breakfast meals contribute to the shared mealtime experiences of many adolescents. In addition, the results suggest that adolescents who more frequently eat breakfast together with their family generally experience better nutrition and weight outcomes. Dietetics practitioners should work with families of adolescents to overcome barriers to eating together and consider encouraging parents to share breakfast meals with their children when sharing the evening
N. Larson is a research associate, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
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N. Larson is a research associate, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
R. MacLehose is an assistant professor, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
M. Story is a professor, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
D. Neumark-Sztainer is a professor, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
J. A. Fulkerson is an associate professor, School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
J. M. Berge is an assistant professor, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
STATEMENT OF POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
FUNDING/SUPPORT This study was supported by grant no. R01HL084064 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (principal investigator: D. Neumark-Sztainer). The content of this manuscript is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute or the National Institutes of Health.