Family meals among new zealand young people: relationships with eating behaviors and body mass index.

Auteur(s) :
Robinson EL., Utter J., Denny S.
Date :
Jan, 2013
Source(s) :
J NUTR EDUC BEHAV. #45:1 p3-11
Adresse :
School of Population Health, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: [email protected].

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OBJECTIVE:

To examine the relationship between family meals and nutrition behaviors of adolescents.

DESIGN:

Secondary analysis of Youth’07, a nationally representative survey.

SETTING:

Secondary schools in New Zealand.

PARTICIPANTS:

Randomly selected adolescents (aged 13-17 years, n = 9,107) completed a multimedia and anonymous survey about their health.

VARIABLES MEASURED:

Body mass index and eating behaviors.

ANALYSIS:

Multiple logistic regression equations were used to determine the associations between family meals and body size and dietary behaviors, controlling for demographic variables.

RESULTS:

Nearly 60% of young people shared a meal with their families 5 or more times in the previous week. Frequent family meals were associated with greater consumption of fruits and vegetables (P < .001), and breakfast (P < .001). Adolescents who frequently shared family meals were also more likely to report that what they ate in the past week was healthy than adolescents who did not (P < .001). There was no relationship between frequency of family meals and body mass index (P = .60).

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS:

Data from the current study suggest that family meals cannot be used as a single strategy for obesity prevention, but they may provide an important opportunity for young people to consume healthy food.

Source : Pubmed
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