Healthy Food & Healthy Living by Dr. Ayala

Do family meals really help prevent obesity?

People hate hearing the sad – but true – advice that in order to avoid weight gain they should eat less. It’s especially frustrating that the target for reduction is food we love: Ice cream, chocolate, cookies and French fries.

We hate when things we like are taken away from us.

That’s why I’m fond of weight control, wellness and prevention advice that emphasizes what we should be doing more of, especially if that something is akin to a gift.

So here’s a good one: To avoid weight gain and eat better eat in company.

Losing weight is ever so hard. That’s why the focus, especially with kids, is on prevention of weight gain. The habits instilled at home are a protective shield, and they act as the ongoing voice in kids’ head as they encounter the obesogenic food environment outside. Parents influence kids’ habits both by the foods they prepare, stock and serve at home, and by their own behavior and choices.

And the perfect setting for shaping kids’ choices is the family meal.

The importance of eating together

A new meta-analysis studied the relationship between family meals and children’s weight gain. A previous meta-analysis in Pediatrics found that shared meals were associated with better nutritional health in kids – healthier weight, healthier choices and fewer eating disorders –that analysis included 17 studies.

The current study, published in Obesity Reviews, included 57 studies and more than 200,000 participants, three times as many as the Pediatrics study. Family meals were again associated with lower risk of being overweight, with a healthier diet, and fewer unhealthy diet habits.

The study shows a correlation, but one can easily explain why family meals could actually cause better habits. Family meals are usually composed of more nutritious foods – when one eats alone they’re more likely to eat fast food or a prepared, microwavable meal. Eating together enables demonstration of good habits, role modeling and it fosters positive interaction.

But aren’t frequent family meals simply more common in better organized homes, in homes with a higher socioeconomic status? And if that’s so, don’t kids in these homes have better eating habits and less obesity anyway?

Because this new analysis pooled many participants and studies together, the researchers could look specifically at the studies that controlled for socioeconomic status, and they found that even when controlling for socioeconomic status, more frequent family meals were correlated with better nutrition and weight status.

We’ll never be able to completely disentangle the fact that healthy tendencies and habits usually cluster: Families with positive relationships might eat together more, and parents who are more health conscious may eat more meals together. It’s hard to completely rule out random association and reverse causality – a positive family relationship might be the cause or the result of eating together.

But whether eating together conclusively causes better nutrition or not, eating together is a very good idea. The family meal offers a great opportunity to lead by example, communicate good habits and to bond.

And it can be fun!

Family meals: A gift that keeps on giving

Not that it’s easy. With the stresses of parents’ work, kids’ studies and extracurricular activities, and all the distractions vying for our attention, serving a nutritious meal and eating it together is no trivial matter.

Nevertheless, the family meal is a gift.

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) devoted its current issue to obesity. It’s the third time in 15 years that JAMA devotes an entire edition to this theme. In its editorial, Edward Livingston laments that the last time JAMA devoted an issue to this problem was six years ago, and that there was some optimism at that time – it seemed like progress was being made. That optimism is gone, he states, as obesity rates continued to climb, especially among children.

So while health professionals continue to debate the merits of bariatric surgery and weight loss diets, and public health advocates try to move the needle with soda taxes, families can carve this little island of commercial-free healthy eating.

Our obesogenic environment isn’t changing fast enough. But the dinner table is our opportunity for nourishing, minimally processed, fruit and veggie rich, free of sugary drinks, conversation-infused, digitally distraction-less, unrushed oasis.

Make eating together a priority. It really is worth the time and the effort. Even the simplest of foods are better when enjoyed in company.

Dr. Ayala

Motivation, tips and tricks to help you keep healthy new year resolutions

It’s week two of the new year, and chances are your resolve to take better care of yourself in the new year might be starting to slip.

Don’t give up, alludes a new study. Your efforts will we well rewarded, and I have a few science-based tips that can help you keep at it.

Healthy lifestyle and cancer risk

Healthy habits are proven to lower risk of heart disease, diabetes and dementia. A new study in Ecancermedicine, a journal from the European Institute of Oncology, set out to quantify how much of a difference these healthy habits have on cancer risk.

The prospective study included about 350,000 40-69 year olds, who were followed for an average of 5 years. The participants were asked about several habits: smoking, alcohol intake, physical activity and diet. Healthy diet scores were based on the number of portions of raw or cooked veggies and fresh or dried fruit consumed daily, 5-a-day put the participants in the “healthy” eating group. Weight and height were also measured for BMI assessment.

The number of healthy lifestyle habits was inversely correlated with cancer risk. Each additional good habit reduced cancer risk by 8 percent. Following all 5 habits -- normal BMI, moderate alcohol consumption (14 units or less per week), regular exercise, eating 5-a-day fruits and veggies, and no smoking -- reduced cancer risk by one third, and delayed the age in which cancer appeared by 6 years!

These findings are quite similar to those of another study following another cohort of almost 400,000 people for 11 years that found that adopting guidelines for diet, nutrition, physical activity, and healthy weight was associated with a 25 percent reduction of the risk of developing most types of cancer.

Ask your doctor about this magic drug

These studies focused just on cancer. The evidence regarding diabetes and heart disease is even more impressive.

If there were a drug that could lower your cancer risk by 25 or 33 percent, wouldn’t you be urging your doctor to prescribe it for you? I bet you would, especially if there were no nasty side effects to warn about, since the treatment is absolutely 100 percent safe.

So let’s make 2018 the year in which you implement at least one more healthy habit.

Tips and tricks to help you keep your wellness resolutions

Connect your resolution to something you already do:

Pick a cue – something you do every day, preferably something you like to do – and make it prompt you to exercise, chop that salad or drink some water. Your favorite show or podcast can be a reminder to do a set of pushups or squats. Brushing your teeth can be attached to practicing mindfulness for a few minutes or to washing fruit to pack in your bag for a healthy snack. Going on lunch break could be a reminder to climb a few sets of stairs on your way back to your desk.

Keep it for 30-60 days:

It takes a while until a habit is established, until it becomes routine and automatic. The first few months are hard, but after a habit is set, it’s programmed in, and carrying on is almost effortless. If your streak has been broken and you’ve skipped a day or two, don’t give up, and patiently start over, reminding yourself that it gets easier with time. Some habits are easier to adopt, some harder, but time’s on your side.

Be kind to yourself:

Adopt an inner voice that treats you as you’d treat your best friend. What would you say to your friend that says they – despite their resolution – didn’t exercise all week? You certainly wouldn’t deride them, would you? You’d tell them that it’s understandable, and that today’s a new day, a new opportunity, right?

Keep at it! 

Dr. Ayala