New Study Confirms Value of Family Meals
A new study published in The Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior (JNEB) shows that more frequent family meals were associated with better dietary and family functioning outcomes.
There are two notable findings to this study:
- Family meals improve fruit and vegetable consumption – overwhelmingly, studies showed a positive relationship between family meal frequency and fruit and vegetable intake when examined separately, but also when fruit and vegetable intake were combined.
- Family meals improve family functioning – nearly all the studies included in the systematic review and meta-analysis demonstrated a positive relationship between family meal frequency and measures of family functioning. Family functioning is defined as family connectedness, communication, expressiveness, and problem-solving.
FMI Foundation, an affiliate of the Food Marketing Institute, funded the study.