Overview

Abstract (English)

Associations between family structures, family meal participation, and seven health behaviors were examined. Anglophone and Francophone youth (aged twelve to twenty-four) in one- or two-parent families were extracted from a 2012 Statistics Canada survey. In terms of bivariate analysis, for one-parent families, participation in family meals was associated with several undesirable health behaviors for the Anglophone youth and with several desirable health behaviors for Francophones. In contrast, family meal involvement in two-parent households was associated with more desirable health behaviors for Anglophone youth, while for Francophone youth it was associated with several undesirable behaviors. However, multinominal logistic regression analysis showed higher family meals were higher among Francophones single-parent families versus Anglophones. Further, higher family meal involvements were found among English Canadians girls versus Francophones. Further, higher family meals involvements were associated with low smoking, low alcohol intake, low BMI status, and higher life satisfaction among Anglophone adolescents and young adults. However, higher involvement in family meals was associated with low smoking and alcohol intake among Francophones.

Abstract (French)

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