Prevent childhood obesity by eating meals together

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Want to protect your child be being obese? Make sure you eat meals with them. Even having as few as one or two family meals a week during adolescence may protect your kids from being obese when they turn into adults, says a study.

Researchers believe that coming together for meals may provide opportunities for emotional connections among family members, the food is more likely to be healthy and adolescents may be exposed to the parental model of healthy eating behaviour.

‘Informing parents that even having one or two family meals per week may protect their child from being overweight or obese in young adulthood would be important,’ said co-researcher Jerica Berge from the University of Minnesota in the US.

For Project EAT (Eating and Activity among Teens), the researchers used data from a 10-year longitudinal study (2,287 participants), to examine weight-related variables (dietary intake, physical activity and weight control behaviour) among adolescents.

Among adolescents who reported that they never ate family meals together, 60 percent were overweight and 29 percent were obese at the 10-year follow-up.

Overall, even having as few as one or two family meals a week during adolescence were significantly associated with reduced odds of being overweight or obese at the 10-year follow-up compared with those reporting never having had family meals during adolescence.

The study is forthcoming in the Journal of Pediatrics.

Healthy diet for children

In order to ensure that your child is eating right, nutritionist Neha Chandna has devised a healthy meal plan for kids. ‘A growing child needs all the nutrients in adequate amounts to promote growth and development both mentally and physically. Their diet must have foods from all food groups,’ she says. Include the following in their meals:

• Cereals: Oats, brown rice, whole wheat, jowar, bajri, ragi for energy, fibre, and B-complex vitamins


• Pulses: Dals, sprouts, soya beans for proteins and muscle formation


• Milk and milk products: Curds, cheese, paneer for calcium to promote bone and teeth development


• Eggs, chicken, fish (if non-vegetarian) for protein. Fish also contains DHA for brain development of the child


• Fruits of all varieties for vitamins, minerals and fibre


• Green leafy veggies like spinach, methi, broccoli for iron and blood formation


• Healthy oils like olive oil, rice bran oil, sunflower oil for essential fatty acids and overall good health

 With inputs from IANS

Image source: Getty

You may also like to read:

• Prevent childhood obesity with a Mediterranean diet


• Turn off the TV during pregnancy to prevent childhood obesity


• Why childhood obesity is on the rise

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Prevent childhood obesity by eating meals together