10.17.2007

Family Meals, with or without TV, make kids healthier

An article in the NYTimes today showcases some research about family dinner time; apparently, eating together is one of the most powerful influences on kids' diet (and has an impact on other behaviors) and things like TV don't distract from that as much as we've thought.

“Obviously, we want people eating family meals, and we want them to turn the TV off,” said Shira Feldman, public health specialist at the university’s School of Public Health and lead author of the research. “But just the act of eating together is on some level very beneficial, even if the TV is on.”
The research, published this month in The Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, is the latest testament to the power of the family meal. While many parents worry about what their kids are eating — vegetables versus junk — a voluminous body of research suggests that the best strategy for improving a child’s
diet is simply putting food on the table and sitting down together to eat it."

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