Prior Amie-Louise, Limbert Caroline
Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK.
J Child Health Care. 2013 Dec;17(4):354-65. doi: 10.1177/1367493512462261. Epub 2013 Mar 1.
Benefits of family meals include diet quality, social interaction and wellbeing, yet previous research indicates only one in four adolescents eats a meal with their family every day. This study identified factors relating to the frequency and importance of family meals. A focus group conducted with seven adolescents was analysed thematically. The themes and findings of past research were used to develop a Family Meals Questionnaire (FMQ), completed by 76 adolescents. Regular engagement in healthy family meals eaten around the table was reported, with the majority of participants reporting that their meals included a variety of foods and portions of vegetables. Frequency of family meals was associated with increased family togetherness for both males and females. The nutritional value of meals was found to be most important to females, whereas the impact of family meals on mood was more salient for males. Findings suggest that the views and behaviour of other family members may influence adolescents' enjoyment and perceptions of the importance of family meals, and therefore impact on their frequency. These findings may inform the development of future interventions aimed at increasing adolescent engagement in family meals by adopting a family systems approach to improve the frequency and experience of family meals.
家庭聚餐的益处包括饮食质量、社交互动和幸福感，但先前的研究表明，只有四分之一的青少年每天与家人一起用餐。本研究确定了与家庭聚餐频率和重要性相关的因素。对与七名青少年进行的焦点小组讨论进行了主题分析。利用过去研究的主题和结果编制了一份家庭聚餐问卷（FMQ），由76名青少年填写。报告显示，青少年经常参与围坐在餐桌旁的健康家庭聚餐，大多数参与者表示他们的餐食包含各种食物和蔬菜。家庭聚餐的频率与男性和女性家庭团聚时间的增加相关。发现餐食的营养价值对女性最为重要，而家庭聚餐对情绪的影响对男性更为显著。研究结果表明，其他家庭成员的观点和行为可能会影响青少年对家庭聚餐的喜爱程度和对其重要性的认知，从而影响聚餐频率。这些发现可为未来干预措施的制定提供参考，这些干预措施旨在通过采用家庭系统方法来提高青少年参与家庭聚餐的频率，改善家庭聚餐体验。
