PrintFamily Meals Are Human Glue and Sustenance, Even With the Television On
For years, Alice Waters and everyone else has been extolling the virtues of the family meal. Now comes word out of the University of Minnesota, via the New York Times, that even family meals with the television on provide numerous emotional and physical health benefits for children.
The results of a study conducted using 5,000 middle and high school students in Minneapolis in 1999 are not exactly counterintuitive. Children eat better when they're not alone. Girls eat more, which means they're less likely to develop eating disorders. Boys had fewer vegetables when they weren't eating with their parents,
If having the TV on succeeds in luring uncommunicative kids to the family table because the screen and the sound offer a distraction, the study says so be it.
Why does the family meal have such a positive effect?
Tara Parker-Pope concludes: "It may be that parents simply put better food on the table when everyone gets together."
Or, "It may be that dining together allows parents to set a better eating example for their kids."
The study's overall conclusion is not exactly earth-shattering: Families who figure out a way to regularly spend time eating together are healthier emotionally and physically. Just look at the Simpsons. Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa rarely miss an opportunity to share a doughnut or a meal, and look how healthy they are, individually and collectively.
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
2 Comments:
Isn't it amazing how simple this stuff all boils down to be sometimes? I mean, really.
Now . . . is there a program that I can put on at mealtime that will prevent my daughter from launching her meatball across the room? That's what I want to know ;-).
swirlingnotions at 4:27PM on 10/16/07
There's a rumor going around my neighborhood that when the new mall opens here next year there will be a new store featured: Simpsons-R-Us.
But that's beside the point. I once read a book on how to do a university study. It said (basically, though it was 1,328 pages long): Choose the conclusion you like then find the facts to support it.
If you can then get the New York Times to print it, that's even better.
Karen Resta at 4:36PM on 10/16/07