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Family Mealtimes: Opportunities for Child & Family Health & Wellbeing
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Barbara H. Fiese, PhD
Syracuse University
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 Although lasting less than twenty minutes, on average, family mealtimes are densely packed events. In this issue of the CYF News, we present some of the latest findings documenting the powerful effects of this important group gathering. At the forefront of this discussion is the growing concern that family time is shrinking and what little time is available is in direct competition with out of home demands such as work, school, and extra-curricular activities. Associated with concerns about family time is the mounting evidence that children's health and wellbeing is compromised when family members spend less time with each other. A focus on family mealtimes intuitively raises the topic of children's physical health. With the near epidemic rise in overweight conditions in childhood, the type and amount of foods served during family meals has been of concern to physicians, dieticians, and policy makers. Psychologists recognize that the type of food that is put on the table, how much is consumed, and whether individuals engage in exercise is as much a behavioral issue as it is a nutritional index.
Children's health outcomes are multi-determined and what goes on the table will be affected by a host of factors. For example, children living in low income neighborhoods are more likely to be overweight than their more affluent peers. The physical environment of low income neighborhoods are noted for their lack of safe playgrounds and sidewalks that promote playful exercise and regular activity in the natural environment. Grocery stores in low income neighborhoods are also noted for limited and more expensive fresh fruits and vegetables than comparable stores in more advantaged neighborhoods. I raise these contextual issues at the outset to highlight the multifaceted nature of an identified health condition and its link to what appears to be a relatively straightforward event - family mealtimes.
I have invited noted scholars to contribute brief articles to this issue to illustrate how family mealtimes are affected by such conditions as maternal psychiatric illness, childhood chronic illness and serve as a context to promote self identity and reduce adolescent high risk behaviors. While these may appear to be relatively disparate topics, they bring into relief the many layers of this collective gathering. The issue concludes with some thoughts on how mealtimes may be used to promote mental and physical health for children and their families. To put these pieces in perspective let us first consider some of the myths about family mealtimes in contemporary families.
Mealtime Myths
In the 2003 National Survey of Children's Health 102,353 a nationally representative sample of families responded to questions about frequency of mealtimes.
- 80% of families with children ages 6 to 11 shared a meal on 4 or more days
- 55% of families with children from 6 to 11 shared a meal on 6 or 7 days
- 69% of families with children from 12 to 18 years shared a meal on 4 or more days
- 42 % of families with children from 12 to 18 years shared meals on 6 or 7 days
- Rates did not differ greatly between ethnic groups and social classes
- Survey responses from teens suggest that since 1998 rates remain stable or may have increased
Why is it that common depictions of the family suggest that mealtimes are on the verge of extinction. Many scholars believe that the root of the issue lies with mythic images of family life conveyed through television. Sometimes referred to as the "Ozzie and Harriett" view of family life (in reference to the 1950's image of a two parent family with two children living in the suburbs - regularly home for dinner), historians are quick to point out that this configuration of family life (and the relative absence of conflict and dissent) never really existed. Yet, many still hold onto these nostalgic images as if they truly depict what happened at the dinner table. While it is true that the absolute amount of time spent on a given meal both in terms of preparation and at the table may have decreased slightly in the past quarter century, the consequences for this collective gathering on children's development remains firm.
Essential Elements of Healthy Family Mealtimes
Recent epidemiological surveys and in depth observational studies have identified some of the key elements to mealtimes that promote healthy development and may foster a sense of belonging to the group. At the core of these observations has been the importance of clear and direct communication. Families that are able to communicate clearly during routine mealtimes are less likely to have children who either act out at the dinner table or are perceived by their teachers as having problematic behaviors in the classroom. Further, clear and direct communication is also associated with reduced health risks such as overweight conditions, anxiety symptoms, and respiratory conditions. While the findings to date are correlational, and intervention studies are in the pilot phases, mechanisms of effect are still somewhat speculative. Some researchers have proposed that mealtime conversations allow for problem solving opportunities which should reduce problematic behaviors. Further, mealtimes also afford the opportunity to monitor children's activities - a known factor in reducing risk.
Another aspect of family mealtimes that may promote health has to do with the emotional connections that are made over time. Mealtimes are replete with insider's information only known to family members. Nicknames, inside jokes, and running commentaries are the strings that bind families together. Over time, these repetitive interactions come to have meaning to individual family members and create a sense of personal belonging as well as group identity. It is this sense of belonging and symbolic connection that has been found to be related to mental health in several empirical studies.
Thus, when psychologists examine family mealtimes they tend to focus less on the menu of the day and more on variations in conversation, allocations of roles, emotion regulation, and problem solving. Systematic variations across several domains have been found to be related to children's academic achievement, language development, mental health, physical health, and cultural socialization. Highlights of some of these findings are presented in Table 1. Again, I caution against drawing causal inferences as many of the features observed during a routine mealtime such as conversational style and disciplinary tactics is embedded in a larger socio-cultural context.
| Characteristic |
Example |
Findings |
| Role Assignment |
Setting and clearing table |
Gender linked - Women and girls more likely to perform meal-related tasks |
| Manners |
Saying "please" and "thank you" |
Related to language development and learning rules of discourse |
| Serving patterns |
Use of high chairs |
Varies by culture and tolerance for independence and autonomy in toddlers |
| Conversation |
Use of rare words |
Related to vocabulary development and academic achievement |
| Communication |
Clear and direct requests for information |
Fewer internalizing symptoms |
| Discourse |
Focus on “today” storiesa |
Western cultures more likely to discuss events of the day in contrast to Eastern cultures more likely to discuss past events |
| Length of meal |
Varies by child health |
Longer meals associated with more problematic behaviors |
Threats to family mealtimes
The evidence is relatively clear that family mealtimes have the potential to serve as powerful settings for healthy child development. However, there are also real threats to practicing healthy mealtimes on a regular basis. The most obvious threat is time. For many families, finding 18-20 minutes four times a week seems like an overwhelming burden. However, when you consider this totals to approximately 90 minutes- the equivalent of three thirty minute television shows there may need to be a shift in priorities. This brings us to the second threat - screen time. The Kaiser Family Foundation recently reported that children between 8 and 18 years of age spend an average of three hours a day watching television and approximately one hour a day on the computer outside of school work. When other media are included such as music and movies the total rises to 6 hours a day. Thus an average family mealtime represents 7% of the time children are engaged with some form of electronic media. These threats are compounded considering that when television sets are turned on during family mealtimes children are at increased risk for being overweight. Television viewing during a mealtime also has the potential to decrease the amount of time available for direct communication and problem solving.
Families may have a variety of reasons for not allocating time to four meals a week with their children. Parents holding down two or more jobs, long or irregular work hours, children's schedules that compete with regular mealtimes, and balancing the developmental needs of a whole family are real tangible circumstances. It is also important to recognize that for some families, being together is an opportunity for conflict and derision rather than warmth and support. Generational patterns and traditions built on neglect and/or coercion may derail the positive influences of collective gatherings such as family mealtimes. In these situations targeted assistance from mental health professionals can aid families in developing rules for healthy interactions to reduce the maleffects of histories of impoverished routines and rituals. Indeed, pilot intervention programs with families in transition suggest that attention to regular mealtimes can have a positive influence on child and adult mental health.
Opportunities exist for psychologists and families to benefit from the family table. Whether it is sharing a favorite comfort food passed down across generations, catching up on the day's news, deciding on a name for the new puppy, or telling stories - these brief moments may have lasting effects for children's health and wellbeing.
References
Blum-Kulka, S. (1997). Dinner talk: Cultural patterns of socialization in family discourse. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Fiese, B. H. (2006). Family Routines and Rituals. New Haven, CT.: Yale University Press.
Larson, R. W., Wiley, A. R., Branscomb, K. R. (Eds.), Family Mealtime as a Context of Development and Socialization: New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, No. 111, Jossey-Bass.
Rideout, V., Roberts, D. F., Foehr, U. G. (2005). Generation M: Media in the lives of 8-18 year-olds. Executive summary. Available at www.kff.org/entmedia/7250.cfm
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau. The National Survey of Children's Health 2003. Rockville, Maryland: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2005.
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