Turn Off The TV At Dinner Time To Combat Family Obesity

Family meals and their rituals are an “underappreciated battleground” in the fight against obesity, according to U.S. researchers who looked at the link between family dinner rituals and body mass index (BMI) among 190 parents and 148 children. Parents participating in the study completed a questionnaire on the family’s mealtime habits; they were then weighed along with their children. Researchers found that a higher BMI among parents tended to correlate to frequently eating dinner while watching TV. Eating at the dinner table in the dining room or kitchen, however,  was linked to lower BMIs for both children and parents.