Sharing family meals

Definition

The proportion of 15 year olds that eat a main meal with their parents at a table several times a week, as reported in the 2000 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

Relevance

Shared family meals are a protective factor in the lives of many adolescents.  Family mealtimes provide an informal opportunity for parents to ‘check in’ with their teenagers, engage in regular communication, and promote healthy eating patterns. 

Greater frequency of family mealtimes is associated with higher academic achievement, lower risk of tobacco, alcohol and marijuana use, and fewer symptoms of depression, particularly among adolescent girls.(1)

Current level

In the 2000 PISA Study, the majority of 15 year olds (64.7 percent) reported that they shared a main meal with their parents around a table several times a week. 

A minority of students (16.6 percent) said that they ate together with their parents a few times a year, never or hardly ever.

Frequency of 15 years olds eating a main meal with parents around a table, 2000

Frequency of 15 years olds eating a main meal with parents around a table, 2000

Source: PISA 2000.  Missing responses have been excluded from denominator. 

Notes

1. Eisenberg M.E., Olson, M.S., Neumark-Sztainer, D., Story, M., Bearinger, L.H (2004) ‘Correlations between family meals and psychosocial well-being among adolescents’, Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 158(8), 792-796