ResearchCurrent ResearchFamily Meals during Adolescence Are Associated with Higher Diet Quality and Healthful Meal Patterns during Young Adulthood
Section snippets
Sample and Study Design
Data for the study were drawn from Project EAT (Eating Among Teens)-II, a population-based, longitudinal study of socio-environmental, personal, and behavioral determinants of dietary intake and weight status among young people (15). The study sample included 1,710 young adults (45% male) with a mean age at follow-up of 20.4 years. In Project EAT-I (1998-1999), 3,074 high school students (grades nine through 12) at public schools in the metropolitan area of the Twin Cities, MN, completed
Meal Patterns During Middle Adolescence and Young Adulthood
At Time 1 (middle adolescence), the frequency of family meals in the sample was one to two times per week for 22.1% of adolescents, three to six times per week for 41.9% of adolescents, and seven or more times per week for 18.6% of adolescents. The prevalence of never having family meals was 17.4%. Means for Time 1 and Time 2 (young adulthood) meal behaviors are shown in Table 1. At Time 1, female young adults reported lower mean weekly frequencies of family meals (P=0.026), breakfast (P
Discussion
This study described meal patterns among young adults and examined associations of family meal patterns during adolescence with diet quality and meal patterns during young adulthood. Average meal frequencies indicated that young adults were eating lunch and dinner most days but had a breakfast meal on fewer than half the days of the week. Social eating and meal structure scores were high, indicating that young adults place a high priority on these behaviors. Further analyses indicated that
Conclusions
Results of this study indicate that having more family meals during adolescence is associated with improved diet quality during young adulthood. Food and nutrition professionals should encourage families to share meals as often as practically possible. Intervention studies designed to increase the frequency of family meals for adolescents are needed to confirm and extend these findings. Future research should be designed to illuminate means for health care providers, community-based programs,
N. I. Larson is a doctoral degree candidate, D. Neumark-Sztainer and M. Story are professors, and P. J. Hannan is a senior research fellow, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
References (44)
- et al.
Family meal patterns: Associations with sociodemographic characteristics and improved dietary intake among adolescents
J Am Diet Assoc
(2003) - et al.
Influences on adolescent eating patterns: The importance of family meals
J Adolesc Health
(2003) - et al.
Breakfast consumption by African-American and white adolescent girls correlates positively with calcium and fiber intake and negatively with body mass index
J Am Diet Assoc
(2005) - et al.
Meal and snack patterns are associated with dietary intake of energy and nutrients in US adults
J Am Diet Assoc
(2006) - et al.
Three squares or mostly snacks—What do teens really eat?A sociodemographic study of meal patterns
J Adolesc Health
(1998) - et al.
Impact of breakfast consumption on nutritional adequacy of the diets of young adults in Bogalusa, Louisiana
J Am Diet Assoc
(1998) - et al.
Breakfast consumption with and without vitamin-mineral supplement use favorably impacts daily nutrient intake of ninth-grade students
J Adolesc Health
(2000) - et al.
Commensal eating patterns: A community study
Appetite
(2003) - et al.
Obesity, disordered eating, and eating disorders in a longitudinal study of adolescents: How do dieters fare 5 years later?
J Am Diet Assoc
(2006) - et al.
Ethnic/racial differences in weight-related concerns and behaviors among adolescent girls and boys: Findings from Project EAT
J Psychosom Res
(2002)
Family meal patterns: Associations with sociodemographic characteristics and improved dietary intake among adolescents
J Am Diet Assoc
Validation of a youth/adolescent food frequency questionnaire
Prev Med
Development and reproducibility of a food frequency questionnaire to assess diets of older children and adolescents
J Am Diet Assoc
Alterations in growth and body composition during pubertyIV. Energy intake estimated by the Youth-Adolescent Food-Frequency Questionnaire: Validation by the doubly labeled water method
Am J Clin Nutr
Adjustment for total energy intake in epidemiologic studies
Am J Clin Nutr
The family environment and American adolescents’ risk of obesity as young adults
Soc Sci Med
Trends in breakfast consumption for children in the United States from 1965-1991
Am J Clin Nutr
Stability in consumption of fruit, vegetables, and sugary foods in a cohort from age 14 to age 21
Prev Med
Are family meal patterns associated with disordered eating behaviors among adolescents?
J Adolesc Health
Family dinner and diet quality among older children and adolescents
Arch Fam Med
Family dinner and adolescent overweight
Obes Res
Adult nutrition
Cited by (293)
Offering a Developmental Perspective to Enhance the Efficacy of Multicomponent Interventions for Pediatric Overweight and Obesity
2023, Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and DieteticsAssociations of cooking practices and healthy eating habits among young Korean adults in their 20s
2023, International Journal of Gastronomy and Food ScienceIntuitive Eating among Parents: Associations with the Home Food and Meal Environment
2022, Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
N. I. Larson is a doctoral degree candidate, D. Neumark-Sztainer and M. Story are professors, and P. J. Hannan is a senior research fellow, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.