Family Meal Practices and Weight Talk Between Adult Weight Management and Weight Loss Surgery Patients and Their Children.

Abstract Objective To identify predictors associated with specific family meal practices and weight talk among patients participating in weight management programs (WMPs) and weight loss surgery (WLS) and their children. Design Cross-sectional survey. Setting Two US weight management centers. Participants 259 patients (aged ≥ 18 years) in either WMP (n = 101) or WLS (n = 158) and residing with a child (aged 2–18 years) Main Outcome Measure(s) Dependent variables: family meal practices (Project EAT) and weight talk (investigator-created). Covariates: family communication (Family Communication Scale), family discouragement for making eating habit change (Social Support for Eating Habits Survey), child age, sex, and perceived weight status, and WMP or WLS participation. Analysis Binomial and ordinal regression models determined the odds of engaging in specific family meal practices and weight talk, including covariates. Results Patients had increased odds of engaging in family dinners if they reported lower family discouragement (P = .003) and had younger children (P Conclusions and Implications Additional research assessing the family meal practices and weight talk in the families of adults pursuing weight loss could yield important evidence that could lead to improved patient outcomes, and safely promote healthy behaviors and prevention of obesity in children.