Set a Place for Your Teen at the Dinner Table

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have found that children aged 11 to 18 who joined their families for meals, ate more fruits, vegetables, grains and nutrient-dense foods than adolescents who ate separately from their families.

The study also found that teens who sat down to at least seven family meals a week ate fewer snack foods than teens who took part in fewer family meals. Boys ate more family meals than girls, and middle school kids ate more family meals than high school students. Asian-American families, families whose mothers didn’t work and families with higher socio-economic status also ate more meals together.

A healthier diet during adolescence reduces cancer risk. Eating at family meals may also help adolescents develop healthy eating habits to help reduce their cancer risk later in life, and in turn that of their children.

(Source: Journal of the American Dietetic Association, March 2003)