Family meals research has shown strong cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between frequency of family meals and child healthful dietary intake, psychological well-being, and lower weight status, however it is not well understood why family meals are protective for child health. The proposed R03 aims to address why family meals are protective for child health. Specifically, this study will address a commonly asked question, is the healthfulness of the food served at family meals more important in predicting child health, or does the quality of the emotional atmosphere during family meals matter more? Additionally, methodological questions such as, how many meals need to be measured to capture average healthfulness of a family meal will be examined. The R03 ancillary study will be linked to a funded R21 study (Berge PI) that used mixed-methods (i.e., direct observation of family meals) to examine the association between interpersonal dynamics (e.g., communication, conflict) during family meals and childhood obesity. Thus, while the parent study measured the quality of the emotional atmosphere at family meals, the proposed R03 will measure the dietary healthfulness of the family meal. The two data sets together will allow for examining the individual and combined influence of the quality of the food and the emotional atmosphere at family meals and childhood obesity, while taking into account key contextual factors for low income, minority families (e.g., public assistance, food insecurity, and depression). The main objective of the R03 is to use direct observational methods (i.e., video-recorded family meals data from the R21) to examine important unanswered methodological and analytical questions regarding the quality of family meals, both in regards to meal dietary healthfulness and the emotional atmosphere. The unique parent R21 dataset that the R03 will be built upon includes individual, dyadic, triadic and family-level data, allowing for coding family-level dietary healthfulness at family dinners. Families (n=120; 74% African American) from low income (73% of parents earn < $35,000/yr.) households with children ages 6-12 video-recorded seven family dinner meals on an iPad in their home. Interpersonal dynamics during family meals were coded by researchers into quantitative scales and were used in examining the association between the emotional atmosphere at family meals and childhood obesity. Three 24-hour dietary recalls were also collected on children and heights and weights were taken on all family members. Additionally, food eaten by families was visible in the video-recorded data. For the R03, a Healthfulness of Meal (HOM) index will be created using data from the R21 video-recorded family meals to code the dietary healthfulness of the meals eaten by families. The creation of the HOM index will move the field ahead by: (1) measuring family meal dietary healthfulness and (2) examining the association between the individual and combined influence of family meal dietary healthfulness and the emotional atmosphere at family meals and childhood obesity prevalence. Study results will inform interventions targeting childhood obesity via family meals.
Short Narrative This secondary data analysis study will use direct observational data to examine important unanswered methodological and analytical questions regarding the quality of family meals, both in regards to meal dietary healthfulness and the emotional atmosphere at the meal. Results from this study will inform both methodological considerations for data collection with diverse children and their families and intervention efforts targeting childhood obesity via family meals.
| Trofholz, Amanda C; Tate, Allan D; Miner, Michael H et al. (2017) Associations between TV viewing at family meals and the emotional atmosphere of the meal, meal healthfulness, child dietary intake, and child weight status. Appetite 108:361-366 |
| Trofholz, Amanda C; Tate, Allan D; Draxten, Michelle L et al. (2017) What's Being Served for Dinner? An Exploratory Investigation of the Associations between the Healthfulness of Family Meals and Child Dietary Intake. J Acad Nutr Diet 117:102-109 |
| Trofholz, Amanda C; Tate, Allan D; Draxten, Michelle L et al. (2016) Home food environment factors associated with the presence of fruit and vegetables at dinner: A direct observational study. Appetite 96:526-532 |
