1 in 8 Adolescents Eats With Parents Fewer Than 4 Times a Week... Linked to Stress and Depression

It has been compiled that 1 in 8 adolescents eats meals with their parents less than four times a week.

The study showed that for every increase of once a week in the frequency of adolescents eating meals with their parents, severe stress decreased by 12%, feelings of depression by 9%, and high levels of anxiety by 8%.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) on the 16th, this fact was confirmed in a study titled "Longitudinal Relationship Between Frequency of Parent-Accompanied Meals in Early Adolescence and Mental Health in Late Adolescence (Kang Joo-hyun, Kim Baek, Kim Sung-ho)" utilizing data from the Adolescent Health Panel Survey (2019-2023).

The Adolescent Health Panel Survey is a project in which the KDCA tracks the same cohort annually for 10 years starting from the 6th grade of elementary school to understand changes in their health behaviors and preceding factors.

A panel of 5,051 students who were in the 6th grade of elementary school in 2019 was established and will be tracked until 2028.

This study was conducted on 3,986 individuals who participated in all surveys for five years from 2019 to 2023.

The research team identified the frequency of meals eaten with parents during early adolescence (2019-2020, 6th grade of elementary to 1st grade of middle school) and then analyzed whether it was related to stress, feelings of depression, and other factors upon entering late adolescence (2021-2023, 2nd grade of middle school to 1st grade of high school).

As a result, among the 3,986 final study subjects, 12.9% of the total adolescents ate meals with their parents less than four times a week.

The group of adolescents who ate meals with their parents less than four times a week had a higher proportion of high-income households and dual-income households compared to the group that ate together four or more times a week.

The proportion of experiencing severe stress overall across six areas—such as academics, family, friends, finances, appearance, and the future—was also high.

On the other hand, family harmony was found to be relatively low.

It was also confirmed that the frequency of eating meals with parents during early adolescence is related to subsequent mental health.

There was a tendency for severe stress to decrease by 12%, feelings of depression by 9%, and high levels of anxiety by 8% for every increase of once a week in the frequency of eating meals with parents.

The research team expressed expectations, stating, "These results suggest the possibility that meals shared with parents can be a daily living environment factor supporting adolescent mental health," and "They can be utilized as basic data for education, counseling, and community programs to promote adolescent mental health in the future."

These results were selected and presented as an award-winning study at the KDCA's "Adolescent Health Panel Raw Data Utilization Contest and Academic Conference."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.