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(Reuters Health) – A new study finds that teens whose families dine together are more likely to make healthy food choices, even when children and parents have difficulty communicating and connecting emotionally.
More frequent family dinners were associated with a healthier diet for teens and young adults, even when families were not particularly close and struggling to manage their daily routines, researchers in the JAMA Network reported. Open.
"The most important thing is that beyond family functioning, family meals are always important when thinking about dietary intake of adolescents," said lead author Kathryn Walton, a PhD student at the University of Guelph, Canada, when she did the research.
"Many studies have examined the benefits of family meals and have repeatedly found that it leads teens to consume more fruits and vegetables and fewer fast food drinks and sugary drinks," Walton said. University researcher at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
But, she added, "critics have suggested that family dysfunction may disrupt the benefits of family meals as it may be more difficult for dysfunctional families to organize and prepare meals or meals. to have healthy food at home … ".
Walton and her colleagues analyzed data on adolescent and young adult children of men and women who participated in the extensive and lengthy study of the nurse's health. The Walton team included data on 2,728 young people aged 14 to 24 living with their parents in 2011.
The functioning of the family was measured through a series of nine statements that were scored on a 4-point scale, including: Individuals are accepted for who they are; I feel that I can talk about my problems or share a problem; I have the impression of being heard in my family.
The researchers found that the more teens and young adults dined with their parents, the more their overall diet included more fruits and vegetables and less fast food and sugary drinks.
Differences in healthy food consumption were small but statistically significant.
The important remaining question, Walton said, is how to make more families share meals. She offered advice for this to happen. First, families who do not eat together can start modestly with just one meal a week. "Then they can build on that success."
In addition, it may be easier to arrange if parents do not put too much pressure on themselves to make dinner "a big deal," Walton said. "It can be easier if you take a bag of salad and use frozen vegetables, which are as healthy as fresh vegetables."
Another strategy: assigning teenagers to prepare meals. "This is especially important in busy families," Walton said. "Many hands do light work. There is also the added benefit of learning important food preparation skills. "
"It's really exciting to hear more and more evidence that eating together, reducing risky behaviors and improving mental health issues, such as depression, can also benefit health in general," he said. Dr. Mara Minguez of New York-Presbyterian / Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, who did not participate in the study.
Minguez said that the only drawback is that the study was conducted on a predominantly white and highly educated population. "I work in New York, where the cultures are very different and I wonder if the results can be generalized."
Many poorer families may have trouble handling sit-down dinners because parents often work late, Minguez said. That's where the compromise comes in. "A family can eat later, maybe even 8 or 9," Minguez said. "It's just a question of understanding why it's so important."
"I like the idea of something simple to implement by families and that has a substantial impact on health," said Dr. Tammy Brady of Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland , who did not participate in the study.
It would be nice to see similar research in a more diverse population, said Brady, but for now, researchers have shown "that the functionality of the family is not so important."
SOURCE: bit.ly/2DCWQxD JAMA Network Open, online November 21, 2018.
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