scholarly journals Days Needed to Characterize the Healthfulness of a Typical Dinner Meal in Direct Observational Research: Mixed Methods Study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allan Tate ◽  
Amanda Trofholz ◽  
Michael Miner ◽  
Jerica Berge
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Mixed Methods Study ◽  
Family Meals ◽  
Observational Research ◽  
Positive Health ◽  
Family Meal ◽  
Family Dinner ◽  
The Family ◽  
Outcomes For Children ◽  
Key Aspects

BACKGROUND Prior research around the home meal environment has demonstrated that family meals are associated with positive health outcomes for children and adolescents. Researchers have begun using direct observational methods to understand key aspects of family meals such as meal healthfulness and family meal frequency to explain the protective nature of family meals. Direct observational research, however, can be resource intensive and also burdensome for participants. Information about the number of days needed to sufficiently characterize typical meal healthfulness using direct observational research methods is needed. OBJECTIVE The current study aimed to produce guidance about the number of meals necessary to approximate typical meal healthfulness at the family dinner meal occasion in a direct observational, mixed methods study of the home food environment. METHODS Families were recruited between 2012-2013 from primary care clinics in the Minneapolis–St Paul metropolitan area (N=120). A total of 800 meals were collected as part of the Family Meals LIVE! mixed methods study. The Healthfulness of Meal Index was used to evaluate meal dietary healthfulness of foods served at 8 family meal occasions. Participating families were provided an iPad (Apple Inc) and asked to video-record 8 consecutive days of family dinner meals with a minimum of two weekend meals. After the meal, families completed a meal screener, which is a self-reported, open-ended measure of the foods served at the meal. RESULTS Weekend and weekday meals differed in their measurement of meal healthfulness, indicating that at least one weekday and one weekend day are necessary to approximate meal healthfulness. Single-day measurement mischaracterized the strength of the relationship between the quality of what was served and intake by almost 50%, and 3 to 4 observation days were sufficient to characterize typical weekly meal healthfulness (<i>r</i>=0.94; <i>P</i>&lt;.001). CONCLUSIONS Relatively few direct observational days of family meals data appear to be needed to approximate the healthfulness of meals across 1 week. Specifically, 1 weekday and 1 weekend observation are needed, including a total of 3 to 4 days of direct observational meal data. These findings may inform future direct observational study designs to reduce both research costs and participant burden in assessing features of the meal environment.

scholarly journals Beyond the Normative Family Meal Promotion: A Narrative Review of Qualitative Results about Ordinary Domestic Commensality

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 3186
Author(s):  
Fairley Le Moal ◽  
Maxime Michaud ◽  
Carol Hartwick-Pflaum ◽  
Georgia Middleton ◽  
Isabelle Mallon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Public Health Research ◽  
Family Meals ◽  
Positive Health ◽  
Mental Load ◽  
Family Meal ◽  
External Constraints ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
The Family

There exists a normative representation of family meals in contemporary Western societies which is promoted as imperative through public health programs, larger discourses and by some studies in the nutritional and public health research fields. Family meals, also called domestic commensality, are represented as convivial events and are associated with positive health and wellbeing outcomes but there is minimal evidence to show they are beneficial for family members and it is not known which aspect of the family meal could be responsible for these alleged benefits. This normative family meal image is based on a representation of the family as a peaceful unit exempt from external constraints. This narrative literature review of qualitative studies of family meals seeks to put forward the underlying premises of this representation and compare it with reports about actual practices. The results emphasize that eating together is still practiced and remains valued by family members, which is in contrast to discourses lamenting the decline of the family meal. However, the valorisation and recurrence of family meals depends on class, gender and cultural positions. There is a gap between the norm of healthy or convivial and achievable family meals, which can reinforce the so-called “mental load” and “emotion work” of those in charge of feeding the family and heighten inequalities within the household. In fact, there are many challenges to family meals which originate from external constraints or are inherent aspects of family life. The results from this review suggest that we should focus on family meals by taking into account the food work surrounding it and focussing on the interactional aspects of family meals. Ethnographic methods allow the researcher to observe the diversities and complexities of commensality as well as family dynamics and, in doing so, could provide more realistic representations of eating within the family.

Framing the Family Meal: A Comparison of Social Marketing Campaigns and Parents’ Views

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracy Bacon
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Single Parents ◽  
Family Meals ◽  
Meal Frequency ◽  
Positive Outcomes ◽  
Family Meal ◽  
The Family ◽  
Outcomes For Children ◽  
Social Marketing Campaigns ◽  
Parents Experiences

Research suggests family meals are associated with positive outcomes for children, leading scholars to recommend their public promotion. Several organizations have created campaigns promoting family meals, but little research has been done on their efficacy. This article compares framing strategies of family meal campaigns with parents’ understandings of feeding work, based on content analysis of 10 campaign websites and interviews with 46 American parents. The analysis suggests that while the motivational and diagnostic frames campaigns use are likely to resonate with parents, their prognostic framing does not align with parents’ experiences. Campaign frames are least likely to resonate with single parents, who face more barriers to having the kinds of meals they want and have fewer ideas for overcoming them. To be more effective, organizations promoting family meals should focus on innovative but relatable strategies for improving family meal frequency and quality, with a particular emphasis on single parents.

scholarly journals The intergenerational transmission of family meal practices: a mixed-methods study of parents of young children

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie A Loth ◽  
Marc James A Uy ◽  
Megan R Winkler ◽  
Dianne Neumark-Sztainer ◽  
Jennifer Orlet Fisher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Mixed Methods Study ◽  
Family Meals ◽  
Meal Frequency ◽  
School Age ◽  
Meal Patterns ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Family Meal ◽  
Regular Practice

AbstractObjectiveThe current mixed-methods study explored qualitative accounts of prior childhood experiences and current contextual factors around family meals across three quantitatively informed categories of family meal frequency patterns from adolescence to parenthood: (i) ‘maintainers’ of family meals across generations; (ii) ‘starters’ of family meals in the next generation; and (iii) ‘inconsistent’ family meal patterns across generations.DesignQuantitative survey data collected as part of the first (1998–1999) and fourth (2015–2016) waves of the longitudinal Project EAT (Eating and Activity in Adolescents and Young Adults) study and qualitative interviews conducted with a subset (n 40) of Project EAT parent participants in 2016–2017.SettingSurveys were completed in school (Wave 1) and online (Wave 4); qualitative interviews were completed in-person or over the telephone.ParticipantsParents of children of pre-school age (n 40) who had also completed Project EAT surveys at Wave 1 and Wave 4.ResultsFindings revealed salient variation within each overarching theme around family meal influences (‘early childhood experiences’, ‘influence of partner’, ‘household skills’ and ‘family priorities’) across the three intergenerational family meal patterns, in which ‘maintainers’ had numerous influences that supported the practice of family meals; ‘starters’ experienced some supports and some challenges; and ‘inconsistents’ experienced many barriers to making family meals a regular practice.ConclusionsFamily meal interventions should address differences in cooking and planning skills, aim to reach all adults in the home, and seek to help parents who did not eat family meals as a child develop an understanding of how and why they might start this tradition with their family.

scholarly journals Family Meals, Conviviality and the Mediterranean Diet among Families with Adolescents

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 2499
Author(s):  
Andrea de la Torre-Moral ◽  
Sergi Fàbregues ◽  
Anna Bach-Faig ◽  
Albert Fornieles-Deu ◽  
F. Xavier Medina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Diet ◽  
Eating Habits ◽  
Family Meals ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Family Meal ◽  
Food Pattern ◽  
Mediterranean Countries ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Meal Composition

Two aspects that characterize the Mediterranean diet (MD) are “what” and “how” we eat. Conviviality relates to “how” we eat and to the pleasure of sharing meals with significant people. The most studied concept is “family meals”, which includes conviviality, which involves “enjoying” family meals. Given the lack of research on convivial family meals in Mediterranean countries, the purpose of this qualitative study was to analyze the family meal representations and practices of families with 12- to 16-year-old adolescents to assess whether they responded to a pattern of conviviality, and to examine their association with MD adherence. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted and food frequency and family meal questionnaires were administered. A food pattern analysis was carried out and digital photos of meals were analyzed to examine eating habits and meal composition, respectively. The findings showed that parents believed family meals are a space for socialization and communication. Items relating to the conviviality of family meals identified in the study were meal frequency, meals at the table, lack of digital distractions, pleasant conversations, and time spent on family meals. Attention should be paid to conviviality in Mediterranean families when designing multi-approach strategies to promote healthy eating among adolescents.

scholarly journals Perspectives of parents and nurses on the content validity of the Family Empowerment Scale for parents of children with a chronic condition: A mixed‐methods study

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth W. Segers ◽  
Agnes Hoogen ◽  
Irene C. Eerden ◽  
Thora Hafsteinsdóttir ◽  
Marjolijn Ketelaar
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Content Validity ◽  
Chronic Condition ◽  
Mixed Methods Study ◽  
Family Empowerment ◽  
The Family

scholarly journals Book Review: At the Table: Food and Family around the World

2017 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 141
Author(s):  
Rachel Wexelbaum
Keyword(s):  
Family Meal ◽  
Family Dinner ◽  
Cultural Phenomenon ◽  
The Family ◽  
The World ◽  
Daily Ritual ◽  
Do So

Humans are losing their tradition of the daily family meal. When everyone in the family works multiple jobs or keeps different schedules, when people never learned how to cook, or when there simply is no money to buy enough food, the challenge of keeping a family intact becomes greater. The family dinner, once a daily ritual in countries around the world, has become a historical relic as well as a cultural phenomenon among cultures that can sustain such a tradition. One can publish a book about the challenges of keeping the daily family dinner alive, or one can publish an encyclopedia of the typical daily family dinner traditions of every culture. While Dr. Ken Albala has the expertise and connections to accomplish both feats, he has struggled to do so in his latest edited volume At the Table: Food and Family around the World.

scholarly journals Dishing on dinner: a life course approach to understanding the family meal context among families with preschoolers

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Kathryn Walton ◽  
Andrea Breen ◽  
Julia Gruson-Wood ◽  
Kira Jewell ◽  
Emma Haycraft ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Life Transitions ◽  
Family Meals ◽  
Family Meal ◽  
The Family ◽  
Significant Life ◽  
Past Experiences

Abstract Objective: Family meals promote healthful dietary intake and well-being among children. Despite these benefits, family meal participation typically declines as children age. This study utilises life course theory to explore parents’ perceptions of family meals in order to understand how parents’ past experiences with family meals (in childhood and earlier in adulthood) influence their current beliefs and practices regarding mealtimes with their own children. Design: Semi-structured qualitative interviews. Setting: In-person interviews were conducted in participants’ homes. Participants: Twenty families (twenty-one mothers and fifteen fathers) with a child aged between 18 months and 5 years. Results: Thematic analysis revealed that families seemed to primarily approach mealtimes from one of three overarching orientations: meals for (1) Togetherness, (2) Nutrition Messaging or (3) Necessity. These orientations were informed by parents’ own mealtime experiences and significant life transitions (e.g. parenthood). The current family meal context, including the messages parents shared with their children during mealtimes and the challenges experienced with mealtimes, characterised the orientations and families’ approaches to mealtimes. Conclusions: Parents’ own early life experiences and significant life transitions influence why families eat meals together and have important implications for the intergenerational transmission of mealtime practices. Results may help to inform the content and timing of intervention strategies to support the continuation of frequent family meals beyond the preschool years.

An evaluation of the Kinect-Ed presentation, a motivating nutrition and cooking intervention for young adolescents in grades 6–8

2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (9) ◽  
pp. 945-950 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Santarossa ◽  
Jillian Ciccone ◽  
Sarah J. Woodruff
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Nutrition Education ◽  
Family Meals ◽  
Food Preparation ◽  
Young Adolescents ◽  
Southern Ontario ◽  
Family Meal ◽  
Meal Preparation ◽  
Family Dinner ◽  
Preparation Techniques

Recently, public health messaging has included having more family meals and involving young adolescents (YAs) with meal preparation to improve healthful diets and family dinner frequency (FDF). Kinect-Ed, a motivational nutrition education presentation was created to encourage YAs (grades 6–8) to help with meal preparation and ultimately improve FDF. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Kinect-Ed presentation, with the goals of the presentation being to improve self-efficacy for cooking (SE), food preparation techniques (TECH), food preparation frequency (PREP), family meal attitudes and behaviours, and ultimately increase FDF. A sample of YAs (n = 219) from Southern Ontario, Canada, completed pre- and postpresentation surveys, measuring FDF, PREP, SE, and TECH. Kinect-Ed successfully improved participants’ FDF (p < 0.01), PREP (p < 0.01), SE (p < 0.01), and TECH (<0.01). Overall, goals of the presentation were met. Encouraging YAs to help prepare meals and get involved in the kitchen may reduce the time needed from parents to prepare meals, and, in turn, allow more time for frequent family dinners.

scholarly journals Estimating the Magnitude of Illicit Cigarette Trade in Bangladesh: Protocol for a Mixed-Methods Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (13) ◽  
pp. 4791
Author(s):  
S. M. Abdullah ◽  
Rumana Huque ◽  
Linda Bauld ◽  
Hana Ross ◽  
Anna Gilmore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Tax Evasion ◽  
Tax Avoidance ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Mixed Methods Study ◽  
Observational Research ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Illicit Trade ◽  
Tobacco Tax ◽  
Illicit Tobacco Trade

The illicit tobacco trade undermines the effectiveness of tobacco tax policies; increases the availability of cheap cigarettes, which, in turn, increases tobacco use and tobacco related deaths; and causes huge revenue losses to governments. There is limited evidence on the extent of illicit tobacco trade particularly cigarettes in Bangladesh. The paper presents the protocol for a mixed-methods study to estimate the extent of illicit cigarette trade in Bangladesh. The study will address three research questions: (a) What proportion of cigarettes sold as retail are illicit? (b) What are the common types of tax avoidance and tax evasion? (c) Can pack examination from the trash recycle market be considered as a new method to assess illicit trade in comparison to that from retailers and streets? Following an observational research method, data will be collected utilizing empty cigarette packs from three sources: (a) retailers; (b) streets; and (c) trash recycle market. In addition, a structured questionnaire will be used to collect information from retailers selling cigarettes. We will select post codes as Primary Sampling Unit (PSU) using a multi-stage random sampling technique. We will randomly select eight districts from eight divisions stratified by those with land border and non-land border; and within each district, we will randomly select ten postcodes, stratified by rural (five) and urban (five) PSU to ensure maximum geographical variation, leading to a total of eighty post codes from eight districts. The analysis will report the proportions of packs that do not comply with the study definition of illicit. Independent estimates of illicit tobacco are rare in low- and middle-income countries such as Bangladesh. Findings will inform efforts by revenue authorities and others to address the effects of illicit trade and counter tobacco industry claims.

A Review of Family Meal Influence On Adolescents’ Dietary Intake

2008 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah J. Woodruff ◽  
Rhona M. Hanning
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Dietary Intake ◽  
Family Meals ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Family Influence ◽  
Dietary Intakes ◽  
Family Meal ◽  
Adolescent Nutrition ◽  
Familial Influences ◽  
The Family

Recent concerns about adolescent nutrition and unhealthy weights have prompted an examination of the myriad influences on dietary intake during adolescence. Included here are a summary of the literature on family influence on dietary intake, specifically during adolescence and within the family context, a summary of family meal patterns, and a systematic review of the known influences of family meals on dietary intake. Because of the complexity of families in today’s society, models were developed to depict the broad context of familial influences on adolescent nutritional behaviours and attitudes and to describe what is known and not known about family meal influences on adolescent dietary intake and quality. A systematic review of the literature revealed seven articles specifically related to adolescents, family meals, and dietary intake, which were analyzed for strength of evidence and plausibility. In spite of data collection methods relying on self-report, results suggested that family meals were associated with improved dietary intakes. Families in today’s societies are complex. Nevertheless, parents have the potential to influence positively, through family meals, what food is provided, where it is provided (e.g., home, restaurant), and within what type of atmosphere it is provided.

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