Associations of Family Meals with Adolescent Perception of Family Relationship and Compliance with Parental Guidance in Hong Kong: Results of a Representative Cross-Sectional Survey

Rosa S. Wong, Keith T. S. Tung, Wilfred H. S. Wong, Frederick K. W. Ho, Winnie W. Y. Tso, Paul S. F. Yip, Carlos K. H. Wong, Shenggen Fan and Patrick Ip
Additional contact information
Rosa S. Wong: Department of Paediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, HKSAR, Hong Kong, China
Keith T. S. Tung: Department of Paediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, HKSAR, Hong Kong, China
Wilfred H. S. Wong: Department of Paediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, HKSAR, Hong Kong, China
Frederick K. W. Ho: Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8RZ, UK
Winnie W. Y. Tso: Department of Paediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, HKSAR, Hong Kong, China
Paul S. F. Yip: Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, HKSAR, Hong Kong, China
Carlos K. H. Wong: Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, The University of Hong Kong, HKSAR, Hong Kong, China
Patrick Ip: Department of Paediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, HKSAR, Hong Kong, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 10, 1-11

Abstract: Family meals are beneficial for adolescent development, but evidence from Chinese populations has been limited. This study aimed to examine the associations between family meal frequency and adolescent perception of family relationship and compliance with parental guidance in Hong Kong. During the period from October to December 2016, a stratified random sample of 3359 students were recruited from 25 secondary schools in Hong Kong. Students completed questionnaires about family characteristics, relationship quality, and meal frequency by paper-and-pencil in class. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the associations between family meal frequency and perceived family relationship and compliance with parental guidance overall and by subgroups. After adjusting for sociodemographic and school confounders, family breakfast and dinner frequency were significantly associated with adolescent compliance (breakfast: B = 0.07, p < 0.001; dinner: B 0.07, p < 0.001) and perception of family relationship (breakfast: B = 0.10, p < 0.001; dinner: B = 0.25, p < 0.001). Risk factors for infrequent family meals included older age, not born in Hong Kong, less educated fathers, and unmarried parents. Our findings support the associations of regular family meals with adolescent perception of high family bond and compliance with parental guidance. Interventions are needed to enhance quality family meal interactions in disadvantaged families.

Keywords: adolescent development; family functioning; family meal; family dinner; family breakfast (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/10/5402/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/10/5402/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:10:p:5402-:d:557443

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().