Why fret
Family meals foster communication and usually lead to higher intakes of fruits, vegetables, calcium, and fiber and lower amounts of unhealthy fats, sugar, and sodium, says Keith-Thomas Ayoob, RD, associate professor in the department of pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. No surprise then that a 2007 Journal of the American Dietetic Association study found that tykes who took in fewer family meals (and watched more TV) were more likely to be overweight. Plus, research last year at the University of Minnesota found that adolescent girls who ate often with family were less prone to use cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs.
