A new study from Finland looked at whether eating meals together as a family affects how healthy everyone eats. Researchers asked nearly 300 families with young children (ages 3-6) about how often they shared meals and what foods they ate. They found that when fathers ate lunch with their kids on weekends, both the children and fathers tended to eat healthier foods overall. The study suggests that dads play an important role in creating a healthy eating environment at home, and that family meal time—especially with fathers—might be one simple way to improve everyone’s diet quality.

The Quick Take

  • What they studied: Whether eating meals together as a family is connected to how healthy everyone’s diet is, with special attention to whether fathers’ involvement matters
  • Who participated: 296 children between ages 3 and 6, along with 103 fathers and 293 mothers from Finland. Families were asked about their eating habits and how often they shared meals together.
  • Key finding: Children whose fathers rarely shared weekend lunch with them had noticeably lower diet quality scores. Fathers who didn’t frequently eat lunch with their kids also tended to have lower diet quality themselves.
  • What it means for you: If you’re a parent, making time for family meals—especially dads eating with kids—may help everyone in the family eat better. This is a helpful reminder that fathers are important for creating healthy eating habits, not just mothers.

The Research Details

This was a cross-sectional study, which means researchers looked at information from families at one point in time rather than following them over months or years. Parents filled out surveys about how often they ate meals together and completed a detailed food questionnaire about what their family ate. The researchers then calculated a “Healthy Food Intake Index” score for each family member—a number that shows how nutritious their diet is overall. They used statistical methods to see if there was a connection between how often families ate together and these health scores, while accounting for other factors like the child’s age, parents’ education level, and how many kids were in the home.

This approach is useful because it shows real-world patterns in actual families rather than testing one specific food or diet change. By looking at fathers specifically, the study fills an important gap—most research focuses on mothers’ role in family eating, but this study shows dads matter too.

The study included a decent number of families and adjusted for several factors that could affect results (like parent education and family size). However, because it’s cross-sectional, we can’t prove that eating together causes healthier eating—it could be that families who already eat healthier are more likely to eat together. The findings about fathers were close to the borderline of statistical significance, meaning we should be cautiously optimistic rather than completely certain.

What the Results Show

The main finding was about weekend lunches. Children whose fathers reported eating weekend lunch with them less often had lower diet quality scores—about 1.6 points lower on the health scale. When researchers adjusted for other factors (like parent education), this connection became slightly weaker but was still meaningful. The pattern also appeared in fathers themselves: dads who didn’t frequently share weekend lunch with their kids tended to have lower diet quality scores, though this result was borderline statistically significant. This suggests that shared meals might benefit both the child and the parent.

The study looked at meals in general and weekend lunches specifically. The strongest connections appeared with weekend lunches rather than other meal times, which is interesting because it might mean that special meal times or less rushed meals have more impact on food choices. The researchers also found that adjusting for factors like parent education level didn’t completely eliminate the connection, suggesting the meal-sharing effect is somewhat independent of other family characteristics.

Previous research has shown that family meals are generally good for children’s health and eating habits. This study adds to that by showing that fathers’ participation specifically matters, and that the benefit may extend to the fathers themselves. Most earlier studies focused on mothers or didn’t separate out fathers’ role, so this is a relatively new finding in the research.

The biggest limitation is that this study shows association, not cause-and-effect. We can’t say for certain that eating together makes people eat healthier—it could be that health-conscious families are more likely to eat together. The study only included Finnish families, so results might not apply everywhere. Also, parents self-reported their eating habits, which can be less accurate than measured data. The sample size, while reasonable, was moderate, and some findings (like the father results) were close to the edge of statistical significance, meaning they could be due to chance.

The Bottom Line

Families should aim to share meals together regularly, with particular emphasis on fathers participating in meal times. Weekend lunches appear especially important. This is a low-risk, practical recommendation that may help improve diet quality for everyone. However, this is one study, so it should be considered as supporting evidence rather than definitive proof. (Confidence level: Moderate)

Parents of young children (ages 3-6) should find this relevant, especially fathers who may not realize their eating habits and meal participation influence their children’s food choices. Families looking for simple ways to improve nutrition should consider this. This may be less relevant for families already eating regular meals together or those with very different cultural meal patterns.

Changes in eating habits typically take several weeks to months to become noticeable. You might see small improvements in food choices within 2-4 weeks of regularly sharing meals, but more significant dietary quality improvements usually take 2-3 months of consistent family meal time.

Want to Apply This Research?

  • Track the number of shared meals (especially weekend lunches) per week, and separately track a simple diet quality score based on servings of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and water consumed daily.
  • Set a specific goal like “Dad eats lunch with kids 2 times per weekend” or “Family shares 4 dinners together per week.” Use the app to send reminders and celebrate when goals are met.
  • Weekly check-ins on meal frequency and monthly reviews of overall diet quality scores for family members. Track trends over 8-12 weeks to see if more shared meals correlate with better food choices.

This study shows an association between shared family meals and diet quality but does not prove that eating together causes healthier eating. Results are from Finnish families and may not apply to all populations. This information is for educational purposes and should not replace advice from your doctor or registered dietitian. If you have concerns about your family’s nutrition or health, please consult with a healthcare professional. Individual results may vary based on many factors including overall lifestyle, genetics, and food access.