Teenagers who regularly eat meals with their families may be less likely to become overweight or obese, the results of a new study indicate.

It has been suggested that family meals could be protective against obesity, so US researchers decided to look into this further. They analysed data from a 10-year study involving almost 2,300 teenagers.

The participants were asked about their weight, diet and exercise levels. They were also asked about family meals.

The study found that 51% of the teenagers were overweight, while 22% were obese at the 10-year follow-up. However among teenagers who never ate meals with their families, 60% were overweight and 29% were obese.

The researchers noted that teenagers who only consumed one or two meals with their families per week were still much less likely to be overweight or obese at the 10-year follow-up, compared to those who never ate with their families.

The researchers from the University of Minnesota and Columbia University suggested that family meals may offer a protective effect against overweight and obesity for a number of reasons. Coming together to eat may allow better emotional connections between family members, the food is more likely to be healthy and teenagers are exposed to healthy eating behaviours via their parents.

"It is important to identify modifiable factors in the home environment, such as family meals, that can protect against overweight/obesity through the transition to adulthood. Informing parents that even having one or two family meals per week may protect their child from overweight or obesity in young adulthood would be important," the researchers commented.

Details of these findings are published in The Journal of Pediatrics.