Lessons From The Pandemic: Staying Strong With Family Meals
It’s no coincidence that National Family Meals Month takes place in September which is also National Fruits and Veggies Month. We’ve always believed that family meals are great vehicles to increase fruit and vegetable consumption. Now we know it!
A recently published study in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior (JNEB) employed the most comprehensive approach to date to explore the direction and magnitude of exposure to family meals and dietary and family functioning outcomes in children. Conclusion: Family meals improve fruit and vegetable consumption – overwhelmingly, there is a positive relationship between family meal frequency and fruit and vegetable intake.
But in the midst of a global pandemic in 2020, 40% of American adults say they are now cooking more at home. If so many people are eating most of their meals at home, how can we effectively promote even more of this behavior to support, encourage, and inspire Americans to “stay strong” and continue to enjoy family meals?
