Abstract
Background
Research has demonstrated dietary quality benefits of family meals and meals prepared
at home. Less is known about associations between the proportion of family evening
meals made at home and key personal, behavioral, and environmental characteristics.
Moreover, most studies often measure these data retrospectively.
Objective
The objective of this study is to describe the proportion of evening meals made at
home measured in real time and to assess associations between personal, behavioral,
and environmental characteristics that are associated with a higher proportion of
evening meals prepared and consumed at home.
Design
This study is a cross-sectional secondary analysis of baseline data collected during
2017 and 2018 from the New Ulm at Home study, a randomized controlled trial conducted
in rural Minnesota to evaluate the effectiveness of a childhood obesity prevention
program for school-aged children.
Participants/setting
The present study analyzes a subset of the New Ulm at Home trial data from families
(N = 108) who completed at least four evening meal screeners collected in real time
with ecological momentary assessment technology over a 2-week period.
Main outcome measure
The main outcome measure was the proportion of family evening meals made at home,
calculated using two cutpoints (≤50% of evening meals prepared at home vs >50%; ≤70%
vs >70%).
Statistical analysis
Descriptive statistics were used to describe the proportion of evening meals prepared
at home. Logistic regression analyses adjusted for parent education were used to assess
associations between family characteristics and the two different proportions of meals
made at home.
Results
Most family evening meals were prepared and eaten at home (62%). Logistic regression
models indicated meal planning skills (odds ratio=1.19, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.39) and mealtime
routines (odds ratio=1.20, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.40) were significantly associated with
odds of preparing more than 50% of evening meals at home. Only meal planning skills
(odds ratio=1.27, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.51) was significantly associated with odds of preparing
more than 70% of evening meals at home.
Conclusions
Study findings indicated mealtime routines and meal planning skills were associated
with preparing more than 50% of evening meals at home, but only meal planning skills
were associated with preparing more than 70% of evening meals at home, which may suggest
the importance of adapting interventions for families. Future research should build
on these findings in randomized controlled trials.
Keywords
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Biography
M. L. Horning is a registered nurse, a certified public health nurse, and an associate professor, School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Biography
S. Friend is a NU-HOME project coordinator, School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Biography
J. Lee is a registered nurse and an assistant professor, School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Biography
C. Flattum is division program manager, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Biography
J. A. Fulkerson is a professor, Cora Meidl Siehl Endowed Chair in Nursing Research, an affiliate professor, School of Public Health, director, Center for Child & Family Health Promotion Research, and director, Clinical Translational Science Institute Translational Research and Career Training TL1 Program Program and Translational Research Development Program, School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 02, 2021
Accepted:
July 8,
2021
Received:
January 21,
2021
Footnotes
STATEMENT OF POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
FUNDING/SUPPORT This study was supported by grant R01 HL123699 (J. Fulkerson, PI) from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/National Institutes of Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. This study used REDCap for data collection, which was supported by a Clinical and Translations Science Institute grant (UL1TR002494) from the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Advancing Translations Sciences.
Registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02973815).
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© 2022 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
