Eating
Disorders
Family Dinners Lower Risks
for Eating Disorders
(November 18, 2004) -- Gathering around the family dinner table each evening
may help lower risks for
eating disorders in girls, suggests a University of Minnesota study.
Regular
family mealtimes appear to encourage healthy eating in all kids, the
researchers added.
The study of nearly 4,800 adolescents found that teen girls who ate regular
family meals in a structured and positive environment were less likely to use
extreme weight-control measures such as chronic dieting, vomiting and diet
pills.
For example, the researchers found that girls who joined in at least five
family meals per week were at one-fourth the risk of developing an eating
disorder compared to girls without a history of regular family mealtimes.
The findings appear in the November issue of the Journal of Adolescent
Health.
Boys also benefit from regular family meals but not as much as girls, the
study found.
"Since society has so much influence on adolescents because of the high
prevalence of obesity and the pressure to be skinny, many girls are turning to
unhealthy ways of controlling their weight," study author Dianne
Neumark-Sztainer, a professor of epidemiology, said in a prepared statement.
"Prioritizing structured family meals that take place in a positive
environment can protect girls from
destructive eating habits," she said.
Families can be creative about how they schedule meals together,
Neumark-Sztainer said. For example, organizing a regular family breakfast may be
easier to arrange than dinner.
By Robert Preidt
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