How does increased family mealtime affect children’s fruit and vegetable intake?

In a recent study published in JAMA network open Researchers conducted a randomized clinical trial (RCT) in Germany with 50 parents and children between November 8, 2016 and May 5, 2017, according to the journal.

The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of extending family meal times on children’s fruit and vegetable intake.

study: Effects of longer family diets on children’s fruit and vegetable intakeImage Credit: EvgenyAtamanenko/Shutterstock.com

Background

Reducing fruit and vegetable intake increases children’s risk of developing chronic noncommunicable diseases. However, children’s fruit and vegetable intake remains lower than recommended globally.

Nearly two-thirds of all children’s caloric intake comes from home-prepared food, the food they eat at home.

Therefore, family diets are important for children’s nutrition and shape their food preferences in the future. provide the environment.

About research

In the present study, investigators used a within-dyad operating design to conduct an RCT at the Family Diet Institute in Berlin, Germany, in which longer family diets were associated with fruit intake in children aged 6–11 years. and increased vegetable intake.

These children had no food allergies and were not on a special diet.

The team ensured that all parent-child dyads underwent two mealtime conditions, but were randomized to one of the conditions using a block randomization method (AB/BA design).

First, researchers asked all parents to complete an online assessment at home with their children. This helped provide food and drink according to the child’s preferences.

Afterwards, the two visited the lab for two free dinners held under regular and extended meal times. Therefore, each parent and child followed normal family meal times (control) and increased meal times (intervention).

The team provided all participants with the same food and beverage categories and serving sizes. They coded parent-child food consumption from video recordings using a standardized coding system.

They calculated the average number of bites per minute in both conditions and compared the feeding rates under normal and longer conditions over the same timeframe.

Finally, the team investigated the dynamics of food consumption over time under normal and longer conditions using linear and logarithmic mixed models wherever possible.

result

Test results show that children consume more vegetables and fruits during longer family meal times, at least 10 minutes longer on average.

This is relevant for public health, as consuming about 1 extra serving of 100gm equivalent of fruits and vegetables daily may reduce the risk of cardiometabolic disease by 6% to 7%.

Surprisingly, children ate less of other foods (bread and cheese). This indicates that the longer the family meal time, the better the children’s meal quality.

Cutting fruits and vegetables into bite-sized pieces may not only give them more time to touch the food, but it may also make it easier for children to eat. On the other hand, other foods remained difficult to eat.

For fruit, the authors noted a significant cross-level interaction between percentage meal time and condition (longer versus regular time).

So, while children ate vegetables longer (100% of 150% mealtime) by the end of their normal mealtime, they ate more fruit during the extra time. rice field. Clearly, longer mealtimes helped consume more fruit.

In addition, longer family meal times were associated with lower eating rates, increased satiety, and children eating less dessert, thus reducing the risk of obesity.

However, the researchers found no association between longer mealtime conditions and a positive mood.

Conclusion

Results from the current trial confirm that the low-threshold intervention significantly improved children’s eating behavior and overall food quality, with a modest increase in family meal time by approximately 10 minutes. Therefore, the researchers suggested focusing on meal times where it is most realistic to increase the time to suit the child’s tastes.

Everyone is in a hurry at breakfast, so it’s better to have more time for snacks and dinner in the evening. Having a transparent rule that mandates staying on the table for a certain period of time could prove beneficial.

Making fruits and vegetables available on the table is also easy and cheap. Nevertheless, instilling this simple habit in children from an early age can help address a major public health problem.