For healthier eating habits switch the TV off at meal times

Sitting down as a family to share meals is an unquestioned benefit in more ways than one.

Apart from the obvious benefits such as socialising and conversation, it creates opportunities for parents to encourage good eating habits and appropriate table manners and also means parents can keep an eye on what their children are actually eating.

However according to recent research many of these benefits are lost if the television is on during mealtimes.

According to a survey of more than 1,300 low-income families taking part in New York's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, the likelihood that children are offered at least two fruits or three vegetables each day increases with each night the family ate dinner together.

But that probability decreases with each night the TV is on during the family dinner.

Researcher Lynn S. Edmunds, a registered dietitian with the New York State Department of Health, Albany, says the benefits of eating dinner as a family do not overcome the negative effects of having the television on during the meal and she advises parents to turn the television off during family mealtimes.

The researchers say Hispanic and black parents reported having the TV on during dinner more often than white parents, while Hispanics and whites ate dinner together more often than black families.

Less educated parents also were more likely to have the TV on during the family dinner.

Given that the health benefits of fruits and vegetables are well known and diets high in fruits and vegetables are associated with a decreased risk of heart and blood vessel disease as well as certain types of cancer, Edmunds says families need to make time to eat together with the TV switched off.

Dr. Barbara A. Dennison, a senior author of the study and director of the Bureau of Health Risk Reduction, Division of Chronic Disease Prevention and Adult Health at the New York State Department of Health, says when diners are focusing on the TV set, they're not paying attention to what they eat.

The researchers say that lifelong food preferences are established early in life and it is important for parents to foster mealtime environments that encourage healthy eating.

The findings support previous research which has found that preschoolers who spend more time glued to the television have worse diets and that families dining together tend to have better eating habits.

The research is published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.