Longer meal times help children eat more fruits and vegetables

April 19, 2023 – Deborah Schrantz, a 34-year-old librarian in Teaneck, NJ, has dinner with her family, including her sons ages 3 and 6, several times a week and Saturday lunch. Based on her Orthodox Jewish customs, the Shabbat lunch is also a formal meal. Friday night and Saturday lunch meals tend to be longer than regular weeknight meals.

“I start my Shabbat lunch with a salad,” said Schrantz. “It helps my kids eat more vegetables when they are hungry and the first food they see is vegetables.”

With longer Friday night and Shabbat meals, kids also have more time to eat healthier. New research suggests that even slightly longer meals can promote healthy eating in children.

A team of German scientists investigated 50 parent-child duos who were invited to a video lab and were offered two free dinners served under varying conditions. Children ranged from 6 to 11 years old. The participants knew they were being photographed, but they didn’t know that the researchers were trying to measure how much fruit and vegetables they ate.

One explanation they may have come up with is that “eating is often viewed as the result of an individual’s actions. Individual knowledge, motivation, or willpower determine what and how much to eat.” Eating is a social behavior,” she said. and together they mean “breaking bread”, and eating is shown to be the kit that brings people together. ”

Eating together is “especially important for children,” she says, because not only are parents the “gatekeepers” of their children’s nutrition (deciding what they eat), but they also frequently eat with their children. Because we eat at the same time,” he said.

In fact, family meals have been called “dietary cradles,” she said, adding that some anthropologists even refer to such communal meals as “civilization cradles.”

Mata’s group had already seen research showing that family diets were associated with healthier nutrition for children. specific nutrition-related mealtime practices (including longer mealtimes).

“One way to think about eating healthy is as a result of the opportunity to do so,” she said. Food—The fruits and vegetables my kids love were on the table, in bite-size cuts for easy eating.”

The authors suggested that families could establish new routines with longer meal times. Respond to the child’s preferences (eg play her music in the background of the child’s choice). Set “transparent rules” (for example, everyone stays at the table for a certain amount of time).

“These strategies don’t always work,” the authors say. “It takes effort to change habits.”

Schranz has “transparent rules” for introducing healthy eating into children’s diets. For example, “Kids should try everything I offer,” she said. , you have to try everything that comes on the table.” That includes fruits and vegetables.

positive parenting opportunities

“This study is elegantly simple and creates a potential low-cost solution to a common problem: how to get children to eat more fruits and vegetables,” said the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Adolescent Medicine. Director Ellen Rohm, M.D., M.P.H., said. Children’s Hospital and Cleveland He Clinic He is Professor of Pediatrics at Lerner College of Medicine.

“The key findings are not surprising and we hope we can replicate them at home,” Rome said. This helped the child feel more full and reduced the need to snack on energy-dense foods later.”

The key takeaway is that “family mealtime is an opportunity for positive parenting and increases the chances that your child will get the right food in the right balance,” Roma said.

“It’s also a time to model how to have a conversation, how to check in, how to share the memorable events of the day, both sad and happy, and how to laugh together,” she said. There are worthy goals here and there!”