Family dinner frequency interacts with dinnertime context in associations with child and parent BMI outcomes.

Abstract

For youth and parents, frequent family meals have been consistently associated with positive dietary outcomes but less consistently associated with lower body mass index (BMI). Researchers have speculated dinnertime context (dinnertime routines, parent dinnertime media use) may interact with family meal frequency to impact associations with BMI. The present study evaluates the associations and interactions between dinnertime context measures and family dinner frequency with parent and child BMI. This cross-sectional study uses baseline data from the Healthy Home Offerings via the Mealtime Environment (HOME) Plus randomized control trial that aimed to prevent childhood obesity. Participants (160 parent/child dyads) completed psychosocial surveys and were measured for height and weight. General linear models tested associations and interactions between dinnertime context measures and family dinner frequency with parent and child BMI, adjusted for race and economic assistance. Lower parent dinnertime media use and higher dinnertime routines were significantly associated with lower child BMI z-scores but not parent BMI scores. Interaction/moderation findings suggest higher family dinner frequency amplifies the healthful impact of the dinnertime context on child BMI z-scores. Additionally, findings emphasize that promoting frequent family meals and consistent routines and reduction in parent dinnertime media use may be important for the prevention of childhood obesity.

Links between the organization of the family home environment and child obesity: a systematic review

“…child age, sex, parental college education, race and qualifying for free/reduced cost lunch; ). Similarly, Horning and colleagues examined family mealtime routines, including the frequency and predictability of family mealtimes, in 160 US children (ages 8–12) and found that more predictable dinnertime routines were inversely related to zBMI, even after controlling for demographic variables (i.e. race and economic assistance).…”

“…Studies also examined the broad home environment and household crowding . Lumeng and colleagues used the full 55‐item Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME)‐Middle Childhood scale and found that the home environments of normal weight children were rated to be of a higher overall quality than those of overweight or obese children.…”

“…Fifteen studies examined relations between the organization of the family home environment and child weight in elementary school-age children ((31,51,55-67); Table S2). Thirteen studies in the school-age group were rated as low risk for bias (31,(55)(56)(57)(58)(59)(61)(62)(63)(64)(65)67,69), and two studies were rated as unclear (60) or high risk (66). Twelve of the 14 studies found evidence for significant relations between the organization of the family home environment and child weight (31,51,55,56,59,60,(62)(63)(64)(65)(66)(67).…”

“…Two of the significant studies examined sleep routines (56,66), four examined meal routines (31,51,58,63,64), five examined family limit setting around screen time (55,56,59,60,63), two examined household crowding (65,67) and two examined the broad home environment (62,66). Lumeng and colleagues (66) examined sleep routines in a sample of 785 US children (ages 9-12) and uncovered direct relations between sleep duration and sleep problems and overweight.…”

Do bedroom screens and the mealtime environment shape different trajectories of child overweight and obesity? Research using the Growing Up in Scotland study

“…Physical aspects of mealtime environment have been explored most in relation to mealtime television use, linked to child overweight in a recent metaanalysis [10]. Possible mechanisms include exposure to obesogenic food advertising (which can have both immediate effects on dietary intake, and longer term effects on fast food preferences [11,12]); adverse effects of mealtime screen use on appetite regulation and control [13]; and less parental monitoring of food consumption [14]. The social and physical context of mealtimes may have independent and/or interactive effects on children's diet, although it is not clear whether mealtime screen use compromises or promotes a positive atmosphere [15,16].…”