Click Off the TV for Healthier Meals
Interaction and foodstuffs are better without television

(HealthDay News) -- Parents who share dinnertime with their children help instill healthier eating habits in them -- if dinner isn't eaten in front of the television, that is.

Research published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that any healthy messages conveyed at the family dinner table tend to be negated if the meal took place in front of the TV.

"Lots of studies have found that when families eat together and presumably talk, kids eat healthier and do better, they're less likely to drink and use drugs. It's pro-social behavior," Dr. Barbara A. Dennison, senior author of the study and director of the Bureau of Health Risk Reduction at the New York State Department of Health, told HealthDay .

But when the television is on, said nutrition professor Arlene Spark, of Hunter College , "people are essentially eating alone."

It's the interaction that seems to make a difference, the experts have found. The food has been shown to be better at tables where families eat together.

"We would like to say turn the television off and speak to one another, but I don't know if that means carrots are going to fly onto the plate," Spark told HealthDay . "But it's a good practice to be able to interact with children and family."

The study included more than 1,300 families participating in New York 's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. The parents or guardians were asked how often the family ate together, how often the TV was on during dinner, and how frequently vegetables and fruits were served as part of the meal.

When the families ate together, fruits and vegetables were more likely to be on the menu, according to the study. But, when the TV was on during dinner, the servings of fruits and veggies declined. Neither having the TV on nor eating together appeared to affect milk consumption.

The study found that Hispanic and white families ate together more often than black families did. And, Hispanic and black families had the TV on during mealtime more often than white families did. The TV was on more often in families where the parents had less than a high school education.

"You really need to be selective about the TV and, in this day and age, it's so rare that families even get together to have a meal that that needs to be precious time," Bonnie Taub-Dix, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association and a nutrition consultant in New York City , told HealthDay . "It's not just having interactions but also not appreciating the food that you're eating simultaneously. In terms of the childhood obesity epidemic in this country, part of what contributes is not just how TV takes away from physical activity, but it's distracting, and you don't know how much you're eating. It's a double whammy."

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children watch only one to two hours of quality television each day, and that TV time not replace active playtime.

On the Web

To learn more about the effects of television on children, check out information from the Nemours Foundation.

SOURCES: HealthDay News ; Barbara A. Dennison, M.D., director, Bureau of Health Risk Reduction, Division of Chronic Disease Prevention and Adult Health, New York State Department of Health, Albany, N.Y.; Bonnie Taub-Dix, R.D., national spokeswoman, American Dietetic Association, and nutrition consultant, New York City; Arlene Spark, Ed.D., R.D., associate professor of nutrition, Hunter College, New York City; April 2007, Journal of the American Dietetic Association ; American Academy of Pediatrics (www.aap.org)
Author: Serena Gordon
Publication Date: April 14, 2008
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