Does eating family meals and having the television on during dinner correlate with overweight? A sub-study of the PRO GREENS project, looking at children from nine European countries

Public Health Nutrition

Ása Gudrun Kristiansdottir¹  Tuuli Pajunen¹  Christel Lynch¹  Inga Thorsdottir¹  Cirila Hlastan Ribič¹  Maria Daniel Vaz de Almeida¹  Bela Franchini¹  Carola Ray¹  Michael Krawinkel¹  Angeliki Papadaki¹  Thorhallur I Halldorsson¹  Saskia J te Velde¹  Agneta Yngve¹  Joanna Moschandreas¹  Eva Roos¹  Irena Simčič¹  Stefka Petrova¹  Isabel Behrendt¹  Vesselka Duleva¹ 

关键词: Family meals;    Television;    Overweight;    Children;    Europe;   

DOI  :  10.1017/S1368980013002954

学科分类：卫生学

来源: Cambridge University Press

【 摘 要 】

ObjectiveFamily meals have been negatively associated with overweight in children, while television (TV) viewing during meals has been associated with a poorer diet. The aim of the present study was to assess the association of eating family breakfast and dinner, and having a TV on during dinner, with overweight in nine European countries and whether these associations differed between Northern and Southern & Eastern Europe.DesignCross-sectional data. Schoolchildren reported family meals and TV viewing. BMI was based on parental reports on height and weight of their children. Cut-off points for overweight by the International Obesity Task Force were used. Logistic regressions were performed adjusted by age, gender and parental education.SettingSchools in Northern European (Sweden, the Netherlands, Iceland, Germany and Finland) and Southern & Eastern European (Portugal, Greece, Bulgaria and Slovenia) countries, participating in the PRO GREENS project.SubjectsChildren aged 10–12 years in (n 6316).ResultsIn the sample, 21 % of the children were overweight, from 35 % in Greece to 10 % in the Netherlands. Only a few associations were found between family meals and TV viewing during dinner with overweight in the nine countries. Northern European children, compared with other regions, were significantly more likely to be overweight if they had fewer family breakfasts and more often viewed TV during dinner.ConclusionsThe associations between family meals and TV viewing during dinner with overweight were few and showed significance only in Northern Europe. Differences in foods consumed during family meals and in health-related lifestyles between Northern and Southern & Eastern Europe may explain these discrepancies.

【 授权许可】

Unknown