FRIDAY, May 6 (HealthDay News) — Fathers have a major influence on how
often their children eat at fast-food and other types of restaurants, new
research shows.
The study included 312 families in Houston who were interviewed about
parents’ work schedules, parenting style, beliefs about family meals and
the amount of time the children spend in the car with parents. The
children in the families were aged 9 to 11 and 13 to 15.
Factors associated with eating out more included: both parents having
standard work schedules; kids spending more time in the family car; and
fathers’ use of restaurants, according to the researchers at Texas AM
University.
Meals served at restaurants tend to be higher in fat, calories and salt
than meals prepared at home, researchers said in a journal news
release.
The study authors made special note of the strong association between
fathers’ and children’s use of and time spent in both fast-food and
full-service restaurants.
The study is published in the May/June issue of the Journal of
Nutrition Education and Behavior.
“Since dietary behaviors, like relying on food away from home and
eating fast food, have been shown to track from childhood through
adolescence into young adulthood, fathers should be encouraged to model
