Parents’ work, teens’ meals
From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.
A study indicates that parents who are at home before and after school can help their teens eat better.
Penn State researcher Molly Martin and her team found this in national survey data on almost 17,000 teens. She says teens with parents around after school are more likely to have regular dinners, and teens with moms at home in the morning are more likely to eat breakfast versus skipping the most important meal of the day.
“A key aspect about having parents around at mealtimes, in my view, is that parents are more likely to instill a sense of routine and a consideration of our nutritional needs, not just our desires.”
The study presented at a meeting of the American Sociological Association was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
Learn more at healthfinder.gov.
HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.