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Family Meals Fact
Sheet
Compiled by Barbara J. Mayfield, MS, RD
Family Meals Matter . . .
by improving academic performance:
• Improved vocabularies and reading skills A study by
Dr. Catherine Snow at Harvard’s Graduate School of
Education, followed 65 families over 15 years, looking
at how mealtime conversations play a critical role in
language acquisition in young children. The
conversations that occur around the family table teach
children more vocabulary and forms of discourse than
they learn when you read to them. Improved vocabularies
lead to better readers. Better readers do better in all
school subjects.
• Improved achievement test scores A University of
Illinois study of 120 boys and girls age 7 – 11 found
that children who did well in school and on achievement
tests were those who generally spent large amounts of
time eating meals with their families.
• Greater academic achievement A Reader’s Digest survey
of more than 2,000 high-school seniors compared academic
achievement with family characteristics. Eating meals
with their family was a stronger predictor of academic
success than whether they lived with one or both
parents. Share that with families who may not have money
or education or a spouse, but do have it in their power
to eat with their kids!
• Higher grades Research by the National Center on
Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University
(CASA), and others, has found a striking relationship
between frequency of family meals and grades. In 2003,
the percent of teens who got A’s was 20% of those who
ate with their families 5 or more times per week
compared to only 12% of those who ate with their
families 2 or less times per week.
by lowering risk-taking behaviors:
• In a research project coordinated by Dr. Blake Bowden
of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, 527 teenagers were
studied to determine what family and lifestyle
characteristics were related to good mental health and
adjustment. He found that kids who ate dinner with their
families at least five times per week were the least
likely to take drugs, feel depressed or get into
trouble.
According to CASA surveys:
• Teens who eat dinner with their parents twice a week
or less are four times more likely to smoke cigarettes,
three times more likely to smoke marijuana, and nearly
twice as likely to drink as those who eat dinner with
their parents six or seven times a week.
• Teens who eat frequent family dinners are also less
likely than other teens to have sex at young ages and
get into fights; they are at lower risk for thoughts of
suicide; and are likelier to do better in school. This
is true regardless of a teen’s gender, family structure,
or family socioeconomic level.
• Teens who have frequent family dinners are more likely
to be emotionally content, work hard at school, and have
positive peer relationships, not to mention healthier
eating habits.
by improving family relationships and emotional health:
• According to CASA surveys teens who have frequent
family dinners are more likely to be emotionally
content, work hard at school, and have positive peer
relationships.
• A study by the Kraft Company found that American
families who eat together are happier in many aspects of
their lives than those who don’t. Children and teens who
eat family meals together experience improved family
communication, have stronger family ties and a greater
sense of identity and belonging.
by improving dietary quality and promoting healthy
weight:
• Dianne Neumark-Sztainer and her colleagues at the
University of Minnesota, published the results of the
EAT study (which stands for eating among teens) in the
Journal of the American Dietetic Association. Their
findings showed a dramatic relationship between family
meal patterns and dietary intake in adolescents. Their
study involved nearly 5,000 middle and high school
students of diverse ethnic and socio-economic
backgrounds. They found that family meals were
associated with improved intakes of fruits, vegetables,
grains, calcium-rich foods, protein, iron, fiber, and
vitamins A, C, E, B-6 and folate. Family meals were
associated with a lower intake of soft-drinks and snack
foods.
• The Project EAT survey also found that girls who ate
more frequent family meals exhibited less disordered
eating including dieting behaviors, extreme weight
control behaviors, binge eating, and chronic dieting.
• Consistent mealtimes allow children to feel secure
that they will be fed; regular meals prevent grazing and
promote coming to the table hungry but not “starving.”
• At family meals parents can role model healthy eating
behaviors and a healthy relationship with food and
eating.
• At family meals eating can be a focused activity if
other activities such as television viewing are not
taking place; therefore hunger and satiety cues can be
attended to and respected.
• Family meals promote a feeling of belonging when
family members come together and lower risk for
loneliness-induced eating for comfort.
Help families and our entire community . . .
Make mealtimes a priority:
• Encourage parents to avoid evening work hours and
multiple evening meetings
• One night a week or one night a month have no school
activities
• Encourage afternoon practices and activities to end
before 5:30
• Encourage evening activities not to begin before 7
• Host events that include sit-down meals for families
• Celebrate Family Day in September, or more often!
Make mealtimes a reality by planning ahead:
• Family and Consumer Sciences classes and after school
programs can teach children and teens basic cooking
skills and involve the whole family in putting meals on
the table.
• Feature web sites, meal planning ideas, and recipes on
school menus and employer newsletters.
And, create a positive atmosphere at the table:
• Encourage families to turn off the television and
focus on one another instead.
For more information on Family Mealtime visit the Purdue
University Center for Families’ Promoting Family Meals
Project:
www.cfs.purdue.edu/CFF/promotingfamilymeals |
