Abstract
The relative burden of mental health problems in children is increasing worldwide. Family meals have attracted attention as an effective modifiable factor for preventing children’s mental health problems. We examined the relationship between family meals and mental health problems in Japanese elementary schoolchildren. A cross-sectional, self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted with guardians of children aged 7 to 12 years in Gifu Prefecture, Japan. Frequency of family meals and with whom the child eats breakfast, lunch, and dinner were assessed separately for weekdays and weekends/holidays. Mental health was assessed using the Japanese version of the parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Multivariate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for borderline/abnormal mental health status were calculated using logistic regression analysis. Of the 678 children, 24.9% had borderline/abnormal mental health status. Children eating breakfast with their family less than once a week (adjusted OR, 4.79; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.51–15.25) and those eating weekend breakfast alone (adjusted OR, 3.61; 95% CI, 1.42–9.23) had a higher prevalence of borderline/abnormal mental health status compared to those eating breakfast seven times a week and weekend breakfast with their family, respectively. These results suggest that family meals, especially breakfast, might be positively associated with better mental health in children.
Highlights
The global disease burden attributable to mental disorders has risen in all countries, and mental health problems are among the most important worldwide issues [1,2]
Respondents for the included children were 637 mothers (94%), 22 fathers (3.2%), grandmothers (2.1%), 4 facility staff (0.6%), and 1 respondent who did not fill in any relation
We demonstrated that family breakfasts were related to the mental health of children, that is, children who ate breakfast with their family less frequently or those who ate breakfast alone on weekends and holidays had a higher frequency of mental health problems
Summary
The global disease burden attributable to mental disorders has risen in all countries, and mental health problems are among the most important worldwide issues [1,2]. The prevalence of mental health problems among these two groups of people in 2020 has been reported to be 10–20% worldwide [4,5], and their relative burden is increasing and is expected to accelerate even more in the future [3,4]. A substantial proportion of all adult mental health problems develop in childhood or early adolescence [6,7,8,9]. Intervention and prevention offer hope to avoid adult mental health problems in the future and improve personal well-being and productivity [4,9]. Identification of positive and negative factors affecting mental health can inform early interventions that can reduce the burden of these disorders [4]
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