While it is important to leave freedom for young people, researchers point out how important family meals are for the quality of their diet, whether relations between members are good or not.
What role does the inner workings of the family play in feeding young people? Do family meals and in particular dinners, as well as the atmosphere at home, improve the quality of the nutritional intake of adolescents?
While nearly 40% of Americans over 20 were obese in 2016, up from 34% in 2007, US researchers wanted to examine whether family functioning (i.e. how members handle daily activities, communicate and connect emotionally with each other) was transversely associated with frequency of family dinners and quality of adolescent nutrition. Their study of 2,728 young people aged 14 to 24 living with their parents was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Fruits, vegetables, sugary drinks, fast food, take-out meals
Specifically, the scientists examined to what extent the frequency of family dinners was associated with the consumption of fruits and vegetables, sugary drinks, fast food and take-out among the participants. All this while taking into account the sex and age of the young, the frequency of family meals each week, the level of education of the mother’s partner (father or new spouse) and the general structure of the family ( recomposed, divorced parents …) between January 1, 2017 and August 31, 2018.
As a result, more frequent family dinners were associated with better food intake, regardless of family functioning or interactions between members. Young people ate more fruits and vegetables, and less fast food.
Nonetheless, more frequent family meals were associated with reduced consumption of sugary drinks in boys, but not in girls. “The results may allow us to better understand the role played by family dinners in improving food intake and whether this positive association exists for all families, regardless of their level of family functioning,” the researchers explain. .
Family meals improve the quality of food for young people
Adolescence and early adulthood are sensitive times for the development of obesity. Particularly because young people get more freedom to go out with friends, with reduced financial means, which often pushes them towards fast food and junk food. The quality of the diet therefore often declines between late childhood and early adulthood. Hence the importance of maintaining family meals, regardless of the relationship between family members, even if strong family cohesion has been associated with a slightly higher consumption of fruits and vegetables.
Since 1975, the number of obese people has almost tripled according to World Health Organization. In 2016, 13% of adults worldwide were obese, 39% were overweight. In France, it is estimated that 30% of the population is. Every year, the number of obese people is increasing all over the planet. A new study reinforces concerns about the progression of the disease. According to Danish and British researchers, 22% of the world’s population could be obese by 2045 if the situation does not change. In some countries, this rate could be much higher.
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