A new study published in the journal Economics and Human Biology finds that more time spent at the dinner table leads to less childhood obesity. Researchers studied 200 families and found that children who regularly sat down for meals and spent at least 20 minutes at the table at least 4 times a week were more likely to have healthy weights than those children who didn't.

Over at medicaldaily.com, they've concluded that this means the solution is for families to keep their kids at the table 3 minutes longer. To be fair, this conclusion is bolstered by comments from the study author, Barbara Fiese, who says “Three to four extra minutes per meal made a healthy weight more likely.” So kids, after you're done with your Happy Meal, you need to sit at the table for a few more minutes and that will make you healthy.

Isn't the obvious takeaway of a study like this that families who cook nutritious meals at home are more likely to sit together at the table to eat them? Or that families who have the time/money/access to good food, therefor leading to better health, are more likely to spend that time/money on sitting down together to eat? It would seem to me that the time spent at the table is a result of healthy eating practices, not the other way around.

But hey, I'm no scientist.

Read the full Medical Daily story here.

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