The role of television during family meals: Enable or disrupter of communication
Authors: Blake Christine E , Rosemond Tiara N , Bernal Jennifer , Frongillo Edward A 
Published: June 2021

Family meals are associated with healthy social and physical development in children, including reduced risk of obesity. Shared family meals are traditionally viewed as a time for family to limit distractions and bond. Television (TV) viewing during family meals is associated with higher calorie intake, lower diet quality, more sedentary hours, and higher obesity risk. In contrast, TV viewing during family meals is associated with better dietary intake among children compared to no family meals at all. Relatively little is known about how TV viewing impacts the quality of mealtime experiences, and the impact may depend on the role of TV in constructing family meal experiences. Food‐insecure families are at higher risk of poor dietary quality and may be particularly vulnerable to negative impacts of TV viewing during family meals. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of TV viewing during family meals from the perspective of food‐insecure families with children.

We conducted a qualitative study with 20 ethnically diverse parent‐child (9–15 y) dyads living in food‐insecure households. Parents and children participated separately in in‐depth interviews about their daily activities, with an emphasis on their family mealtime experiences using a semi‐structured interview guide. All interviews were conducted in South Carolina. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. A grounded theory approach to analysis was used to conduct emergent coding, explore relationships between codes and identify dominant themes using Nvivo 10.

Conversation while eating was an essential situational characteristic of family meals for many. Many sat together at the same table, some at different tables in the same room, and some in different rooms that were adjacent to one another. TV viewing was a common situational characteristic of family meals for most participants (n=14). For a minority of families (n=6) family meals involved eating together at a table with no TV viewing allowed. Participants described TV viewing during family meals as either an enabler or disruptor of communication. For some, TV was a positive central feature of the family mealtime experience that enabled communication. These families engaged in conversation while eating and watching a favorite program or used TV to make mealtimes special activities and “all enjoy it as a family”. For other families, TV served as a deliberate disruptor of communication. Some participants described family member watching TV from the dinner table or leaving the table at some point during the meal to watch TV in another room. Some described family members eating in separate rooms while simultaneously watching different programs or using TV as a way to avoid communication.

TV was a central feature of family meals for the majority of families in this study, but the role that TV played in the family meal experience differed. Some families used TV viewing during family meals as an enabler of communication and to bond while others used it to disrupt communication and maintain physical distance from each other. Further research on relationships between TV viewing during mealtimes and communication could provide important insights for the promotion of family and child health and development.

Support or Funding Information

Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the RIDGE Center for Targeted Studies at Purdue University and the Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina.