- Email: [email protected]
Summer: Time for Family Meals that Can Shape the Future
practice applications
EDITOR’S OUTLOOK
Summer: Time for Family Meals that Can Shape the Future
M
any of us grew up taking certain things for granted. Summer was the time for no school, more fun, and lots of meals shared with the family. Whether sitting around a camp fire, savored at a favorite vacation spot, or just enjoyed by the barbecue on the deck, summertime offered endless opportunities to spend time eating with the family. Times change, life has become more fast-paced. Activities, sports events, business travel, summer camp, and countless other distractions have left many families exhausted, disconnected, and eating individually (in separate rooms, watching separate televisions!) or on the run with no time for sharing the shopping, cooking, and eating time together that could have favorable influences on long-term health. This month, Berge and colleagues (p 1036) report research from Project EAT (Eating Among Teens) on family meals and the impact of parenting style on frequency of family meals and other behaviors associated with dining together. The authors point out the emerging data that document improved nutrient adequacy, weight control, and psychological/emotional health that have been associated with more frequent family meals. Authoritative parenting style was associated with more frequent meals eaten together among these adolescents and generally better outcomes. The authors advocate that future research should build on these findings and develop possible interventions to help parents increase the frequency of meal times together for all their many benefits. GONE FISHING? Also this month, Baik and colleagues (p 1018) report data from a prospective Korean study regarding fish intake, n-3 fatty acids, and incident
metabolic syndrome. Reporting results from the Korean Genome Epidemiology Study among 3,504 men and women who completed a food frequency questionnaire, intake of fish and n-3 fatty acids was inversely associated with incident metabolic syndrome among men, but not women. Further studies are needed to elucidate possible mechanisms and address sex differences observed in this study. Also, please note the excellent editorial by Vannice (p 1014), who further addresses the contributions and consideration of this research study. With growing evidence regarding the value of fish and fish oil to help reduce risk of a host of chronic diseases, cross-cultural data that further document these associations are valuable and help offer insights on quantitative associations. SCHOOL’S OUT, BUT CONSIDERATION OF FOOD INTAKE REMAINS A HIGH PRIORITY With the obesity epidemic raging, interest in primary prevention among children remains a high priority. Evidence supports awareness that children are consuming too many calories, too much saturated fat, and too much sodium and sugar, contributing to the obesity problem. School meals represent an urgent target for addressing some of these problems. These issues are carefully addressed by Fox (p 1010) in her Commentary on improving food environments in schools. Both the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program offer valuable opportunities for influencing the nutrient intake of American school children and, preferably, help to provide badly needed nutrition education to help reinforce the value and benefits of certain foods and eating styles. With sufficient support, access to nutritious foods, appro-
© 2010 by the American Dietetic Association
priate serving sizes, and daily exposure to these improved eating behaviors, there is hope for improvement among this vulnerable age group, especially as combined with increased physical activity. This approach could offer potential benefits in reducing the pediatric obesity epidemic. RESEARCH AND PRACTICE INNOVATIONS—THE “NEW” PERSPECTIVES IN PRACTICE Also this month, please see the Research and Practice Innovations paper by Sweitzer and colleagues (p 1058), who provide qualitative research from a pilot study of lunch approaches to increasing fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in sack lunches of preschool age children. These are formative years, and offering nutritious choices can potentially influence the future diets and lifestyles of these children. Please note that what was formerly called “Perspectives in Practice” has been replaced by this new format called “Research and Practice Innovations.” Please see the Author Guidelines for further details regarding this format for manuscript preparation. Publishing preliminary data of this type in a peer-reviewed journal such as this can become the very essence of a budding grant proposal. The Research and Practice Innovations category is intended to serve just this purpose. Enjoy these and other valuable reports published this month. Best regards.
Linda Van Horn, PhD, RD Editor-in-Chief doi: 10.1016/j.jada.2010.05.014
Journal of the AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION
989
EDITOR’S OUTLOOK
Summer: Time for Family Meals that Can Shape the Future
M
any of us grew up taking certain things for granted. Summer was the time for no school, more fun, and lots of meals shared with the family. Whether sitting around a camp fire, savored at a favorite vacation spot, or just enjoyed by the barbecue on the deck, summertime offered endless opportunities to spend time eating with the family. Times change, life has become more fast-paced. Activities, sports events, business travel, summer camp, and countless other distractions have left many families exhausted, disconnected, and eating individually (in separate rooms, watching separate televisions!) or on the run with no time for sharing the shopping, cooking, and eating time together that could have favorable influences on long-term health. This month, Berge and colleagues (p 1036) report research from Project EAT (Eating Among Teens) on family meals and the impact of parenting style on frequency of family meals and other behaviors associated with dining together. The authors point out the emerging data that document improved nutrient adequacy, weight control, and psychological/emotional health that have been associated with more frequent family meals. Authoritative parenting style was associated with more frequent meals eaten together among these adolescents and generally better outcomes. The authors advocate that future research should build on these findings and develop possible interventions to help parents increase the frequency of meal times together for all their many benefits. GONE FISHING? Also this month, Baik and colleagues (p 1018) report data from a prospective Korean study regarding fish intake, n-3 fatty acids, and incident
metabolic syndrome. Reporting results from the Korean Genome Epidemiology Study among 3,504 men and women who completed a food frequency questionnaire, intake of fish and n-3 fatty acids was inversely associated with incident metabolic syndrome among men, but not women. Further studies are needed to elucidate possible mechanisms and address sex differences observed in this study. Also, please note the excellent editorial by Vannice (p 1014), who further addresses the contributions and consideration of this research study. With growing evidence regarding the value of fish and fish oil to help reduce risk of a host of chronic diseases, cross-cultural data that further document these associations are valuable and help offer insights on quantitative associations. SCHOOL’S OUT, BUT CONSIDERATION OF FOOD INTAKE REMAINS A HIGH PRIORITY With the obesity epidemic raging, interest in primary prevention among children remains a high priority. Evidence supports awareness that children are consuming too many calories, too much saturated fat, and too much sodium and sugar, contributing to the obesity problem. School meals represent an urgent target for addressing some of these problems. These issues are carefully addressed by Fox (p 1010) in her Commentary on improving food environments in schools. Both the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program offer valuable opportunities for influencing the nutrient intake of American school children and, preferably, help to provide badly needed nutrition education to help reinforce the value and benefits of certain foods and eating styles. With sufficient support, access to nutritious foods, appro-
© 2010 by the American Dietetic Association
priate serving sizes, and daily exposure to these improved eating behaviors, there is hope for improvement among this vulnerable age group, especially as combined with increased physical activity. This approach could offer potential benefits in reducing the pediatric obesity epidemic. RESEARCH AND PRACTICE INNOVATIONS—THE “NEW” PERSPECTIVES IN PRACTICE Also this month, please see the Research and Practice Innovations paper by Sweitzer and colleagues (p 1058), who provide qualitative research from a pilot study of lunch approaches to increasing fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in sack lunches of preschool age children. These are formative years, and offering nutritious choices can potentially influence the future diets and lifestyles of these children. Please note that what was formerly called “Perspectives in Practice” has been replaced by this new format called “Research and Practice Innovations.” Please see the Author Guidelines for further details regarding this format for manuscript preparation. Publishing preliminary data of this type in a peer-reviewed journal such as this can become the very essence of a budding grant proposal. The Research and Practice Innovations category is intended to serve just this purpose. Enjoy these and other valuable reports published this month. Best regards.
Linda Van Horn, PhD, RD Editor-in-Chief doi: 10.1016/j.jada.2010.05.014
Journal of the AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION
989