Mothers and meals. The effects of mothers’ meal planning and shopping motivations on children's participation in family meals

Deconstructing family meals: Do family structure, gender and employment status influence the odds of having a family meal?

“…Thus, the gendered division of labor influenced by social norms and gender roles may lead women to feel the onus of how employment influences their child’s eating practices more so than men (Blake et al, 2009; Devine et al, 2009). Consequently, mothers, albeit facing time constraints, largely due to work schedules, cope by finding ways to have a meal with their children whether it be eating convenience or fast food entrees (Devine et al, 2009; McIntosh et al, 2010). …”

“…10 While women’s time allocated to housework has declined, time allocated to children has increased for both employed and non-employed mothers since the 1960s (Bianchi, 2011), suggesting women are still reserving time for their children despite competing demands. Others argue that maternal employment does not affect the likelihood of having a family meal, but instead increases the likelihood of eating store bought or prepared dinners (McIntosh et al, 2010). Some of these discrepancies are likely due to various measures of employment.…”

Family meals can help children reach their 5 A Day: a cross-sectional survey of children's dietary intake from London primary schools

“…McIntosh et al 30 explored mothers’ planning behaviour around cooking and attitudes towards the family meal. Identifying mothers’ belief in the family meal determined the frequency of this behaviour.…”

“…Parental nutritional habits have been consistently correlated with healthy dietary behaviours 44. The relationship between parental intake and child's intake can be explained through modelling, and the child's simple desire to imitate their parents 17 29 30 45. Increased availability would increase children's familiarisation with different fruits and vegetables, which is considered to be a key determinant in children's consumption 42 46 47.…”

Family meal frequency, weight status and healthy management in children, young adults and seniors. A study in Sardinia, Italy

“…Other studies compare FFM with factors such as body weight and behaviour of family members (Berge et al, 2012;Chan & Sobal, 2011); it is the mother in particular who has a positive association with her child's diet (Boutelle, Birkeland, Hannan, Story, & Neumark-Sztainer, 2007;McIntosh, Kubena, Tolle, Dean, & Anding, 2010).…”