Should families have a no-phone-at-the-table rule? While research indicates that family bonding is one of the big benefits of family meals, it may be hard to tear most parents away from their smartphones at meal times.
While excessive screen time is often associated with younger generations, new research published in the JAMA Pediatrics journal found that 78% of parents reported using a tech device during their last family meal, compared to nearly 70% of children. Parents most often used smartphones, while children “tended to watch content on large- or small-screen devices or play handheld games,” said a Facebook post from the journal.
Authors of the study noted that “research suggests that children who enjoy consistent family meals have better dietary habits and improved well-being,” and there are concerns that device use might dampen this impact. To better understand mealtime media use, the research team behind the new study conducted an online survey and 357 parent responses were used.
“Parents were assigned a child upon whom to focus,” the study explained. “To measure mealtime media use, parents reported whether they or the child used specific media devices during mealtime (no use vs any use). Demographic data, including sex and age, parental race and ethnicity and educational attainment, and single-parent or single-child home type, were collected.”
Cecilia Sada Garibay, a co-author on the study and a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Arizona, told CNN this week that not all screen use is the same when it comes to mealtimes. Large screens provide an opportunity for families to watch content together and bond over it, while personal screen use can cut into connection opportunities.
“If you have your device and you’re constantly checking it at the table, it can affect a valuable moment parents have with their children in the day, and it can have some effect on the relationship they have with their children,” Sada Garibay said. She is also a professor at the School of Communication in the Universidad Panamericana, studying social media effects, CNN added.
Per the study results, Black parents were the most likely to report paired device use, while individual use was more often reported by Asian parents. However, the study also found that parent and child mealtime media use patterns seemed to be independent. That indicates that any interventions would need to address both parent and child behaviors.
“Pediatric recommendations on mealtime media use should differentiate between modalities and usage patterns (eg, paired use vs individualized use, passive viewing vs active engagement), since they could differentially affect child development and family dynamics,” said the study authors.
