New UNL study reinforces need for family meals

The family that eats together stays healthier together.

That's the upshot from a new University of Nebraska-Lincoln study that tracked more than 100 famies with recent enrolees in the Nebraska Nutrition Education Program, which helps families on limited budgets improve the quality of their diet. Participants filled out surveys and questionnaires during in-person nutrition classes.

The study found that more than seven in 10 low-income families struggled to reach adequate levels of nutrition in their diet. When asked to recall food choices from the previous day, only 28 percent of participating parents and caregivers reported meals with adequate amounts of nutrients like vitamins A and C, protein, calcium and iron.

The work, which appears in the current edition of Family & Consumer Sciences Research Journal, measured the families' eating patterns and examined their meals' nutitional values to determine how certain meal patterns could lead to more nutritious diets.

Not surprisingly, while a majority of families in the study said they usually gathered for an evening meal at least five times a week, that number dropped to four or fewer times for breakfast and lunch. About 43 percent said their families ate breakfast together two or fewer times a week; the same held true for lunch.

Researchers found that increasing the frequency of family breakfasts resulted in a better balance of foods from the milk group, fruits and fruit juices, in particular.

"Nutrients we get from these food groups such as calcium, folate, potassium, Vitamin C and Vitamin A are critical in the diets of young children and are often lacking in the diet of limited-income children," said Wanda Koszewski, UNL extension associate professor of nutrition and health sciences and the study's lead author.

"Due to the fast-paced lifestyle of many families, not having breakfast together makes it difficult to meet these nutrients later in the day."

It doesn't end at Mom's admonition to "eat your broccoli," of course. Getting together for a meal makes for a healthier lifestyle altogether, of course.

"Food and nutrition professionals need to look at not only foods being consumed in the household, but to also examine who is eating together and how often," she said. "They can work with families in problem-solving how to improve the family mealtime and frequency to help their children meet their nutritional needs."

It doesn't take a university study to know that getting together to share a nutritious meal is a good way to keep a family together, deal with problems before they occur and provide the balance that all family members need.

So while we're checking out portions of fruit, vegetables, breads and meat, let's also shut off the television and talk.