Family Meals Among Adolescents: Findings from a Pilot Study

This study aimed to increase our understanding of family meal patterns among adolescents. A school-based survey was completed by 252 junior and senior high school students. Nearly a third (30.7%) reported that their families had eaten a meal together at least seven times over the past week, but a similar percentage (31.9%) reported two or fewer family meals over the past week. Frequent television viewing during meals was reported by about half (52.8%) of the respondents. Adolescents reported feeling more certain about making health ful food choices at family meals than in other eating situations. Findings from this pilot study indicate that further investigations of family meal patterns among youth and the associations between family meals and eating behaviors are warranted.