Family Mealtime Frequency and Household Food Availability in US Adults Living in Multi-Person Households: NHANES 2007-2010
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Date
2015-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
Family meals are associated with improved diet quality among children and adolescents, and are increasingly promoted as a strategy to improve public health and prevent obesity. However, the extent of this association among the general US population has not been studied. This research seeks to describe the prevalence of family meals among US adults, and the relationship between family meal frequency and home food availability. Data were analyzed from the 2007-2008 and 2009-2010 cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a nationally representative survey of the US civilian population. Our sample included 18,031 adults living in households of two or more people who were asked questions regarding sociodemographic characteristics, family mealtime frequency, and the availability of various foods in the household. Analysis performed in SAS included Chi-square tests and cumulative logistic regression models. Among the US population living in multiple person households, the prevalence (95% CI) of having 0-2, 3-6, and >7 family meals per week was 18.0% (16.6-19.3), 32.4% (31.0-33.9), and 49.6% (47.8-51.4), respectively. Frequency of family meals varied with sociodemographic characteristics, with respondents who were older, poorer, Hispanic, married, and had less education reporting more frequent family meals. In addition, a healthier pattern of household food availability, as measured by our aggregate food availability score, was associated with greater frequency of family meals at home. Family meals are common in US households, with about half of all US households with two or more people eating >7 family meals per week. Family meal frequency was also positively associated with a healthier pattern of household food availability. Our research suggests that frequent family meals have positive nutritional benefits for adults as well as children, which could have an impact on future public health and nutrition interventions.
Description
Honorable Mention at the 2015 Denman Undergraduate Research Forum
Keywords
Family mealtime, Household food availability, NHANES, Survey data, Nutrition, Population health