By Marie Dufour, RD – Families are spending 40% of their food dollars away from home, up from the only 26% twenty five years ago. The good-old family dinner is on the decline. From a public policy standpoint, some of the reasons are
- food marketing to children (1.6 billion in 2006) who now want their XXX-brand meal and its associated toy or figure. But 93% of the kids’s meals provide excessive calories.
- unavailability of fresh foods in some neighborhoods. Grocery stores want to maximize their profits and have pulled out of many poor neighborhoods. The unavailability of fresh foods in these areas force residents to rely on convenience stores and their snack foods for their meals.
- foods allowed on the Women Infant and Children (WIC) program are not conducive to healthy cooking and family meal preparation.
Why focus on family meal preparation and family-style dinner in an environment free of distraction such as television, videogames, telephone and texting? Because, as the latest research from the University of Indiana suggests, family who eat together live healthier lives.
- Teens are less likely to smoke cigarettes and marijuana and to abuse alcohol.
- Children have greater vocabulary growth and higher academic achievement.
- Children are less likely to develop eating disorders.
- Young children exhibit fewer behavior problems.
- Teens tend to eat more fruits and vegetables.
- Meals prepared at home tend to be lower in calories and fat.
What can be done in the context of public policy? Recommendations appear in volume 22, issue 4, of Social Policy Report, co-authored by Marlene Schwartz, deputy director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University.
Encouraging families to prepare and eat together at least 3 times per week a 20-minute meal is one public address message. But we need to have the structures to support this:
- grocery stores and fresh food availability in poor neighborhoods;
- decentralized fresh produce carts for curbside access;
- no-fast food zones around schools and parks;
- WIC coupons that include fresh produce.
So, get into the kitchen with the kids, set the table or the counter, turn all TVs and cell phones off, and enjoy a meal with your family. It’s a healthy thing!
Ref: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2009, September 9). Public Policy Should Promote Family Mealtimes, Researchers Urge.
By Marie Dufour, RD – Families are spending 40% of their food dollars away from home, up from the only 26% twenty five years ago. The good-old family dinner is on the decline. From a public policy standpoint, some of the reasons are
- food marketing to children (1.6 billion in 2006) who now want their XXX-brand meal and its associated toy or figure. But 93% of the kids’s meals provide excessive calories.
- unavailability of fresh foods in some neighborhoods. Grocery stores want to maximize their profits and have pulled out of many poor neighborhoods. The unavailability of fresh foods in these areas force residents to rely on convenience stores and their snack foods for their meals.
- foods allowed on the Women Infant and Children (WIC) program are not conducive to healthy cooking and family meal preparation.
Why focus on family meal preparation and family-style dinner in an environment free of distraction such as television, videogames, telephone and texting? Because, as the latest research from the University of Indiana suggests, family who eat together live healthier lives.
- Teens are less likely to smoke cigarettes and marijuana and to abuse alcohol.
- Children have greater vocabulary growth and higher academic achievement.
- Children are less likely to develop eating disorders.
- Young children exhibit fewer behavior problems.
- Teens tend to eat more fruits and vegetables.
- Meals prepared at home tend to be lower in calories and fat.
What can be done in the context of public policy? Recommendations appear in volume 22, issue 4, of Social Policy Report, co-authored by Marlene Schwartz, deputy director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University.
Encouraging families to prepare and eat together at least 3 times per week a 20-minute meal is one public address message. But we need to have the structures to support this:
- grocery stores and fresh food availability in poor neighborhoods;
- decentralized fresh produce carts for curbside access;
- no-fast food zones around schools and parks;
- WIC coupons that include fresh produce.
So, get into the kitchen with the kids, set the table or the counter, turn all TVs and cell phones off, and enjoy a meal with your family. It’s a healthy thing!
Ref: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2009, September 9). Public Policy Should Promote Family Mealtimes, Researchers Urge.
Filed under: Lifestyle, community nutrition, diet, public health, childhood obesity, community nutrition, family meal, fast food, healthy eating, healthy kids, healthy lifestyle, kids' health, Marie Dufour RD, mealtime strategy, nutrition, obesity, produce carts, public health, public policy, weight control, women's Health
By Marie Dufour, RD – Families are spending 40% of their food dollars away from home, up from the only 26% twenty five years ago. The good-old family dinner is on the decline. From a public policy standpoint, some of the reasons are
- food marketing to children (1.6 billion in 2006) who now want their XXX-brand meal and its associated toy or figure. But 93% of the kids’s meals provide excessive calories.
- unavailability of fresh foods in some neighborhoods. Grocery stores want to maximize their profits and have pulled out of many poor neighborhoods. The unavailability of fresh foods in these areas force residents to rely on convenience stores and their snack foods for their meals.
- foods allowed on the Women Infant and Children (WIC) program are not conducive to healthy cooking and family meal preparation.
Why focus on family meal preparation and family-style dinner in an environment free of distraction such as television, videogames, telephone and texting? Because, as the latest research from the University of Indiana suggests, family who eat together live healthier lives.
- Teens are less likely to smoke cigarettes and marijuana and to abuse alcohol.
- Children have greater vocabulary growth and higher academic achievement.
- Children are less likely to develop eating disorders.
- Young children exhibit fewer behavior problems.
- Teens tend to eat more fruits and vegetables.
- Meals prepared at home tend to be lower in calories and fat.
What can be done in the context of public policy? Recommendations appear in volume 22, issue 4, of Social Policy Report, co-authored by Marlene Schwartz, deputy director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University.
Encouraging families to prepare and eat together at least 3 times per week a 20-minute meal is one public address message. But we need to have the structures to support this:
- grocery stores and fresh food availability in poor neighborhoods;
- decentralized fresh produce carts for curbside access;
- no-fast food zones around schools and parks;
- WIC coupons that include fresh produce.
So, get into the kitchen with the kids, set the table or the counter, turn all TVs and cell phones off, and enjoy a meal with your family. It’s a healthy thing!
Ref: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2009, September 9). Public Policy Should Promote Family Mealtimes, Researchers Urge.