Eating breakfast together as a family: mealtime experiences and associations with dietary intake among adolescents in rural Minnesota, USA

Abstract

Objective Although existing evidence links breakfast frequency to better dietary quality, little is known specifically in regards to the benefits associated with eating breakfast together with one's family. This study describes the prevalence and experience of having family meals at breakfast among rural families and examines associations between meal frequency and adolescent diet quality. Design Data were drawn from Project BreakFAST, a group-randomized trial aimed at increasing school breakfast participation in rural Minnesota high schools. Linear mixed models were used to examine associations between student reports of family breakfast frequency and Healthy Eating Index 2010 (HEI-2010) scores while accounting for clustering within schools, demographics, and household food security. Setting Adolescent students from 16 schools completed online surveys, height and weight measurements, and dietary recalls at baseline in 2012-2014. Subjects The sample included 827 adolescents (55.1% girls) in grades 9-10 who reported eating breakfast at most three days per school week. Results On average, adolescents reported eating breakfast with their family 1.3±1.9 times in the past week. Family breakfast meals occurred most frequently in the homes of adolescents that reported a race other than white (P=0.002) or Hispanic ethnicity (P=0.02). Family breakfast frequency was directly associated with adolescent involvement in preparing breakfast meals (P<0.001) and positive attitudes (P≤0.01) about mealtime importance, interactions, and structure. Family breakfast frequency was unrelated to most diet quality markers. Conclusions Family meals may be one important context of opportunity for promoting healthy food patterns at breakfast. Additional research is needed to better inform and evaluate strategies.

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“…14,21,22 While research suggests that family meals are protective for child diet quality and potentially weight status, little research has examined whether it matters if the family meal is breakfast, lunch, or dinner. 23,24 It is important to understand whether one meal type conveys more positive impact on child diet quality and weight status than another to inform research regarding which meals should be targeted in nutrition interventions. For example, if families are more likely to serve vegetables and fruits at dinner then it may be important for interventions to target serving vegetables and fruits at family breakfast meals and/or lunches.…”

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