Eating dinner away from home: Perspectives of middle-to high-income parents.

This study sought to understand barriers and facilitators for preparing and eating dinner at home in families who report eating dinner away from home ≥3 times per week. Cross-sectional, mixed methods (focus groups, questionnaires) study. Twenty-seven parents with a child 3-10 years-old who reported eating dinner away from home ≥3 times per week from a pediatric medical center in the Midwest participated. The key concepts analytic framework guided focus group analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize parent demographics, anthropometrics, attitudes and confidence toward cooking, perceptions of dinner costs and portions, and parent and child dinners. Parents reported confidence in cooking a home prepared meal, but that eating away from home was reinforcing because it provided quality family time and diminished barriers such as picky eating and perceived costs. Home cooking was also hindered by early school lunch and after-school sports as children were not hungry or home at the typical dinner hour and parents did not want to cook after 8pm. Parents estimated preparing and eating a meal at home took significantly more time than driving and eating out (80.7 min vs. 30.3 min, p < 0.001). Parents significantly (F (3, 104) = 8.80, p < 0.001) overestimated the cost of home-prepared meals compared to take-out and frozen meals. Portion size was also overestimated for a protein serving. Findings are limited to predominantly married, female parents whom are highly educated and working. To reduce eating out, interventions should address family factors (e.g., time management, quality time) and child behavior (e.g., picky eating). Innovative interventions that include experiential cooking opportunities that incorporate time management, address picky eating and enthusiasm for cooking with education on decreasing costs may be particularly beneficial for middle-to high-income families.

Robson SM ，Crosby LE ，Stark LJ 《-》

The impact of a pilot cooking intervention for parent-child dyads on the consumption of foods prepared away from home.

This pilot study investigated the impact of a parent-child dyad cooking intervention on reducing eating dinner away from home. Eating away from home often results in consumption of energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods that can contribute to excess energy consumption in children. A pre-post design to evaluate a 10-week cooking intervention on reducing eating dinner away from home, energy intake, and improving diet quality was implemented. The intervention was delivered at an instructional kitchen on a university campus and assessments were completed at a children's academic medical center. Subjects included six parent-child dyads whom reported eating dinner away from home ≥3 times/week and in which the parent was overweight based on their body mass index (BMI) of ≥25 kg/m(2). Parents were a mean age of 34.7 (SD = 3.9) years, and children were a mean age of 8.7 (SD = 2.0) years. Two-thirds of parents self-identified themselves and their children as White. Results showed the proportion of dinners consumed by parent-child dyads away from home significantly decreased (F (1,161) = 16.1, p < 0.05) from 56% at baseline to 25% at post-treatment. Dyad cholesterol intake at dinner also significantly decreased over time; however, changes in energy intake, total fat, saturated fat, and sodium at dinner were not significant. A large effect size was found for changes in parent ratings of enjoyment of cooking between baseline and post-treatment. A cooking intervention that involves parent-child dyads and incorporates behavior management strategies and nutrition education may be an innovative obesity prevention intervention.

Robson SM ，Stough CO ，Stark LJ 《-》

Parent-child cooking meal together may relate to parental concerns about the diets of their toddlers and preschoolers: a cross-sectional analysis in Japan.

Ishikawa M ，Eto K ，Miyoshi M ，Yokoyama T ，Haraikawa M ，Yoshiike N ... -  《Nutrition Journal》

Is it better at home with my family? The effects of people and place on children's eating behavior.

The people and places children eat with can influence food consumption. This study investigates the people and places Swiss school-aged children ate with over a 7-day period and analyses the effects of eating at home with family on food consumption. Children completed a 7-day food diary documenting the foods they consumed, the people with whom they ate, and the place where they ate. Analyses were conducted for all meals and included 9911 meal occasions. Most meals (80.5%) were consumed at home with family. Generalized estimating equations were used to model the effects of the home-family dyad on the child's chance of consuming a certain food while controlling for age, gender and BMI of the child, education, nationality and BMI of the parent. Compared to eating in other dyads (e.g. school-peers or restaurant-family), eating in the home-family dyad was associated with higher consumption of vegetables (+66% and +142% at weekday lunch and dinner and +180% and +67% at weekend lunch and dinner), lower consumption of sweets (-45% and -49% at weekday lunch and dinner; -43% and -49% at weekend lunch and dinner), and fewer soft drinks (-37% and -61% at weekday lunch and dinner; -66% and -78% at weekend lunch and dinner). This study shows the positive influence of eating at home with the family on food consumption in a sample of Swiss children. Interventions and policies that encourage children and parents to eat together at home could serve as effective prevention against a poor diet.

Suggs LS ，Della Bella S ，Rangelov N ，Marques-Vidal P ... -  《-》

Supporting Families to Cook at Home and Eat Together: Findings From a Feasibility Study.

The current study tested the feasibility and acceptability of an intervention that provided families with meal plans, recipes, and ingredients to cook meals at home. Ten diverse families (1 adolescent, 1 parent) were provided with the resources to prepare 5 family dinners/wk for 8 weeks. Process data were collected by weekly telephone calls. Outcome data were collected by open-ended interviews with parent or caregiver and adolescents, separately. Most of the meals provided were prepared (86%) and a high proportion of meals prepared were eaten together by families (96%). Both parents and adolescents reported that the intervention was acceptable, particularly the opportunity to try new foods. Families reported multiple benefits to participation, including eating healthier, feeling better, and having improved relationships. Providing families with resources for home cooking appears to be an acceptable and well-enjoyed intervention. Further research measuring the health and social impacts of this intervention is warranted.

Utter J ，Denny S 《-》