Key Messages about Family Meals

Overarching Message:

• Family meals are the foundation for a healthy nation.

Key Message: Physical/Nutritional Health

Hundreds of studies indicate that family meals improve nutritional health among children and adults.

• More fruits and vegetables are consumed in children who frequently enjoy meals with their family. ¹ 
• Family meals are associated with a reduced risk of overweight and obesity.²
• The amount of time families spend around the table positively impacts children’s health and nutrition.³

Key Message: Mental Health

Families that eat meals together are more cohesive, better connected, more expressive and have stronger communication.

• Family meals boost emotional well-being among children and adults.⁴
• Children who participate in family meals are more fit and less aggressive than those who do not.⁵
• Family meals help protect against adolescent depression.⁶

Key Message: Social Preparedness

Family meals empower participants to contribute more positively and productively to social interactions.

• Adolescents who participate in family meals are less likely to engage in risky behaviors.⁷
• Family meals may help protect adolescents from the harmful consequences of cyberbullying.⁸
• Most Americans agree that family meals offer opportunities to discuss difficult and challenging topics.⁹

Key Messaging: National Family Meals Month

Bolster individual health and well-being and family connectedness by sharing one more family meal per week at home.

• September, often associated with back-to-school, is the perfect time to commit to sharing one more family meal at home per week to build stronger families.
• Researchers and health experts endorse and promote the lifelong benefits of family meals.
• Making family meals happen is easier than you think. Your local grocery store has meal planning tips, recipes, cooking and preparation suggestions and more to help you get started.

Facts Supporting the Nutritional Benefits of Family Meals

• Increasing family mealtime duration by approximately 10 minutes can improve the quality of children's diet and eating behavior.¹⁰
• Preschool-age children who have more frequent family meals eat more fruits and vegetables.¹¹
• A review of more than fifty studies among200,000+ participants reveals a significant relationship between frequent family meals and better nutritional health - in younger and older children, across countries and socioeconomic groups.¹²
• Fifty studies show an association between frequency of family meals and healthy dietary patterns, such as increased consumption of fruits and vegetables.¹³
• A study among 2,000 middle and high school racially and socioeconomically diverse youth shows eating 1-5 family meals per week during adolescence was significantly associated with reduced odds of overweight or obesity ten years later in young adulthood as compared with never having family meals as an adolescent.¹⁴
• The frequency of family meals is strongly related to lower rates of childhood overweight or obesity.¹⁵
• There is a positive association between the frequency of family meals and fruit and vegetable intake among children 2-18.¹⁶
• Young parents who cultivate the tradition of regular family meals have healthier dietary, weight, and psychosocial outcomes compared with young adults who never reported having regular family meals.¹⁷
• A study among nearly 2,000 children ages birth through 17 years shows that participating in more than five family meals per week was associated with less sugar-sweetened beverage intake among younger and older children, greater vegetable intake among older children and adolescents, and greater fruit intake among adolescents.¹⁸
• A review of fifty studies shows an association between frequency of family meals and healthy dietary patterns, such as increased consumption of fruits and vegetables.¹⁹
• Increasing family mealtime duration by approximately 10 minutes can improve the quality of children's diet and eating behavior.²⁰
• A longitudinal cohort study among 2,000 middle and high school racially and socioeconomically diverse youth shows eating 1-5 family meals per week during adolescence were significantly associated with reduced odds of overweight or obesity ten years later in young adulthood as compared with never having family meals as an adolescent.²¹

Facts Supporting the Mental Health Benefits of Family Meals

• Family meals improve family functioning, defined as family connectedness, communication, expressiveness, and problem-solving.²²
• Family meals deepen relationships with family and friends which is good for your mental and physical health. In fact, it’s as important to your health and well-being as sleep, exercise, and food.^23-25
• Frequent family meals may contribute to the social and emotional well-being of parents.²⁶
• With family meals, parents can influence and improve food choices, model good nutrition, and build family relationships – all of which leads to better weight management, improved physical health, and improved mental health.^27-29
• Family meals that avoid interruptions and other distractions provide a chance to positively influence eating behavior and improve health and well-being.³⁰
• Family meals nourish the body and the mind.^31-36
• Frequent family meals may have a protective effect on the mental health of adolescents, particularly for depressive symptoms in girls.³⁷

Facts Supporting the Social Benefits of Family Meals

• Findings suggest that family meals buffer daily risks associated with familial conflicts.³⁸
• Family meals improve family functioning, defined as family connectedness, communication, expressiveness, and problem-solving.³⁹
• Frequent family meals are associated with reducing disordered eating, alcohol and substance use, violent behavior, and feelings of depression or thoughts of suicide in adolescents.⁴⁰
• Studies reporting significant associations find that adolescents who frequently eat meals with their family and/or parents are less likely to engage in risky behaviors when compared to peers who never or rarely eat meals with their families.⁴¹
• Most Americans agree family meals are a great opportunity to teach civility.⁴²
• 76% of Americans agree that family meals are a great time to have and teach respectful interactions.
• 70% of Americans agree that frequent family meals create a safe environment for my family to discuss the thornier societal issues.
• 68% of Americans agree that sitting at a meal together tends to keep conversations more civil.
• Frequent family meals may contribute to the social and emotional well-being of parents.⁴³
• Research suggests that family meals have long-term influences on children's biopsychosocial well-being, demonstrating higher levels of general fitness and lower levels of soft drink consumption, physical aggression, oppositional behavior, nonaggressive delinquency, and reactive aggression among those who consume family meals.⁴⁴
• Family meals may provide a unique opportunity for building stronger families and young people.⁴⁵
• Family dinners are beneficial to adolescent mental health and may help protect adolescents from the harmful consequences of cyberbullying.⁴⁶
• Fifty studies involving more than 49,000 participants show that positive associations consistently emerged between five components and children's nutritional health: turning the TV off during meals, parental modeling of healthy eating, higher food quality, positive atmosphere, children's involvement in meal preparation, and longer meal duration. Researchers concluded that how a family eats together shows significant associations with nutritional health in children.⁴⁷