Boardash: Family meals have numerous benefits

Friday, September 11, 2009

Family meals have numerous benefits

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Asthma management reduces swine flu risk

PHILADELPHIA (UPI) -- U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius highlighted the importance of managing childhood asthma and reducing H1N1 risk.

Sebelius met with students and their parents at Thurgood Marshall Elementary, one of 16 schools in Philadelphia that partners with the Merck Childhood Asthma Network Inc. to help students better manage their asthma.

Begun in 2005, the Philadelphia project has improved asthma outcomes for children and reduced school absenteeism by using a community-based approach that integrates families, community agencies, schools and healthcare providers to implement scientifically proven asthma interventions.

One out of four students in the West, Southwest, Olney, Logan and Germantown communities had been diagnosed with asthma or have been admitted to the hospital for wheezing, compared to one in 10 nationwide.

The Philadelphia program provides children with asthma and their families access to three key services: classes that educate parents, other caretakers and children with asthma; home visits where community health workers help families eliminate or control allergens and irritants within the home; and services that connect families to asthma care coordinators.

"We applaud Secretary Sebelius for recognizing that staying healthy can be a challenge for students with asthma -- a factor that is even further complicated with the possibility of being exposed to the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, which can increase the severity of asthma symptoms, leading to possible hospitalizations," Dr. Floyd Malveaux, executive director of MCAN, said in a statement.

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Family meals have numerous benefits

URBANA, Ill. (UPI) -- Family mealtimes are a way to improve nutrition and reduce stress in families, and parents should set time for regular family meals, a U.S. researcher advises.

"There are few things parents can do that are as effective in protecting their families as taking 18 to 20 minutes to eat together and talk with each other three to five times a week," Barbara H. Fiese of the University of Illinois says in a statement.

Fiese says research indicates the following benefits of family mealtimes:

-- Teens who eat five or more meals a week with their families are less likely to smoke cigarettes and marijuana and abuse alcohol.

-- Children who take part in regular family mealtimes have greater vocabulary growth and higher academic achievement.

-- Frequently shared mealtimes protect against obesity in children and eating disorders in preteens and adolescents.

-- For young children, family mealtimes mean fewer behavior problems.

-- Teens who dine regularly with their families tend to eat more fruits and vegetables.

-- Meals prepared at home tend to be lower in calories and fat than restaurant food.

The report appears in the Social Policy Report.

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