Let's break bread together.

• Position: YOUR LIFE - Eating together with family

Couples and other adult family members living without minors in the house are just as likely as adults living with young children or adolescents to eat family meals at home on most days of the week, according to research in the journal Public Health Nutrition.

The study is the first large-scale look at family-meal eating patterns in American adults. While a substantial amount of research has focused on health benefits for children who regularly eat family meals, such eating patterns have not been widely studied in adult-only households.

Researchers analyzed data, comparing family-meal patterns among adults who live with minor children to households with at least two adult family members and no children under age 19 living with them. In both types of households, about half of the families ate meals together six or seven days per week. The finding is a first step toward exploring whether adults who eat frequent family meals also experience health benefits.

"Most people value family meals and engage in this behavior. The prevalence of never eating family meals or eating together only once a week is low," explains...