Watching television while having a family dinner, nullifies the positive effects of eating together. Researchers from the New York State Department of Health, Albany, conducted a survey of more than 1,300 low-income families with preschool children. The survey found that the probability that children were offered at least two fruits or three vegetables each day increased with each night the family ate dinner together. However, the probability of serving fruits or vegetables decreased with each night the TV was on during the family dinner. The health benefits of fruits and vegetables are well known; diets high in fruits and vegetables are associated with decreased risk of heart and blood vessel disease as well as certain types of cancer. The benefits of eating dinner as a family do not overcome the negative effects of having the television on during dinner. Parents should turn the television off during family mealtimes. Hispanic and black parents reported having the TV on during dinner more often than white parents. Hispanics and whites ate dinner together more often than black families. Less educated parents also were more apt to have the TV on during the family dinner. Given that lifelong food preferences are established early in life, it is important for parents to foster mealtime environments that encourage healthful eating. It's been shown that children who eat a lot of fruits and vegetables during childhood are apt to maintain this healthy eating pattern into adulthood.
Journal of the American Dietetic Association,
April 2007