Family meals' fat-fighting effects vary by race

Forty-three percent of the white children were overweight or obese, compared to 60 percent of Hispanic children and 63 percent of non-Hispanic black children. White and black children ate about five meals a week with their families, on average, while Hispanic children averaged six family meals a week.

Non-Hispanic white kids who ate family meals every day were one-third less likely to be obese than white children who ate family meals twice a week or less. But there was no relationship between family meal frequency and overweight or obesity among black girls. For black boys, the risk of being overweight or obese decreased "marginally" as family meals per week increased.

For Hispanic boys who either lived in a single parent household or lived in less educated households (meaning the most-educated family member had either finished high school or completed fewer years of school), eating more family meals actually increased the risk of being overweight or obese.  Family meals' fat-fighting effects vary by race