(P18-042-23) Association of Family Meals With Daily Fruit and Vegetable Intakes Among Children Aged 1–5 years, National Survey of Children’s Health — United States, 2021

Objectives: Healthy diets in early childhood, including fruits and vegetables, are associated with optimal growth and development. Family meals are linked to improved mental health and diet for children and adolescents, but studies in children under five are limited by sample size and generalizability of results. The objective of this analysis was to determine if frequency of family meals is associated with daily fruit and vegetable intakes among children aged 1–5 years using data from the 2021 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH).

Methods: The NSCH is a nationally representative survey. We measured frequency of fruit intake, vegetable intake, and number of days a household ate a meal together (i.e., family meals). We categorized fruit and vegetable intakes (fresh, frozen, or canned) as daily or less than daily in the last week. We categorized family meals as 0–3 days, 4–6 days, or daily in the last week. Two separate multivariable logistic regression models estimated the association between family meals and (1) daily fruit intake and (2) daily vegetable intake after adjusting for child (age, race and ethnicity, hours of childcare received outside the home), caregiver (maternal age, caregiver education level), and household characteristics (household income, food insufficiency, and participation in food assistance programs).

Results: Among our analytic sample of children aged 1–5 years (n = 18,183), 68% and 51% ate a daily fruit or vegetable in the last week, respectively; 60% were from households that ate a daily family meal in the last week. Compared to children from households having a family meal 0–3 days in the last week, those who ate a family meal more frequently were increasingly more likely to consume a daily fruit [4–6 days/week: aOR 1.19 (CI 0.93, 1.54); daily: aOR 1.74 (CI 1.38, 2.19)], or a daily vegetable [4–6 days/week: aOR 1.56 (CI 1.22, 1.99); daily: aOR 2.24 (CI 1.82, 2.75)].

Conclusions: Family meals were associated with higher daily fruit and vegetable intakes among children aged 1–5 years. Increasing the frequency of family meals could be evaluated as a potential intervention strategy to improve fruit and vegetable intakes in early childhood. Qualitative work may also be useful to better understand why frequency of family meals is associated with fruit and vegetable intakes among young children.

Funding Sources: None; This analysis used publicly available data.