New research shows that positive, calm and fun meals with the family could help children in avoiding to become overweight or obese.
Children are less likely to put on additional weight if the meals of their families contain fun conversations, words of encouragement and orderly eating, according to researchers from the University of Minnesota.
"In the households where kids were overweight, there was less of a positive atmosphere at the table," said Jerica Berge, an author of the study and a University of Minnesota psychologist. "It was a little more chaotic overall."
The study was carried out by the researchers through the observation of dozens of hours of footage featuring family meals. The research builds upon previous studies that show a relationship between the frequency of family meals and the reduction in the risk of children becoming obese.
Berge and her colleagues carried out the study to determine the characteristics found in a family meal that would decrease the risk of childhood obesity and to find out if certain kinds of family meals have a bigger positive impact compared to others.
The research team requested a total of 120 families to take their meals while being recorded using an iPad. When the team studied the recordings, they took note of the duration of the meal, the kind of food that the family ate, the interaction between the members of the family and the relationship of these factors to the weight of the children in the family.
The data revealed that children with normal weight mostly have meals with their families wherein the parents would offer uplifting words to the children, and wherein all the family members had fun in the company of each other.
Berge said that negativity while in a family meal looked to be connected with obesity, and added that family meals should not be where the parents will lecture children or talk about problems.
"Children did better if meal time was more of a check-in time, connecting around the table with parents and with siblings," Berge said.
The findings also revealed that overweight children had meal times that were shorter, and ate more often inside their rooms than in the dining table.
Berge said that positive meals with the family provide children with a sense of stability, which could be influential in the formation of a child's eating habits. It also helps to have both parents present during meals.
The study, entitled Childhood Obesity and Interpersonal Dynamics During Family Meals, was published online in the journal Pediatrics.
