Meals at the family dinner table could be the key to preventing a generation of teenage girls from developing eating disorders.

New research shows girls who regularly have family meals are much less likely to adopt extreme weight control behaviors such as vomiting, using laxatives or diet pills.

A study surveying more than 2500 American high school students found that girls who ate five or more family meals a week had a much healthier relationships with food in later life.

The research, published in international journal Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, polled students aged 13 to 17 in 1999 who were followed up five years later. Regular family meals were found to have a protective effect regardless of the girls' age, weight, socio-economic status, dieting habits or relationship with her family.

Experts say doctors should encourage families to have dinner at the table instead of on the couch in front of the television to protect against serious eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia.

Belinda Dalton, director of eating disorders clinic The Oak House, said eating with family helped "normalise" young people's relationship with food.

"When adolescents are feeling that they're not coping they turn to something that they can control and food is something available and accessible for them to control. Clearly, if they're sitting with their family on a regular basis then their family can be more in control of their eating," Ms Dalton said.

"It's about young people feeling connected with their family and that builds self-esteem and sense of worth and that works very actively against someone developing an eating disorder."

An eating disorders expert, Kirsty Greenwood, said meal times were often difficult for sufferers. "It's typical that they feel very ashamed of their eating habits and often won't eat with other people. Perhaps it's because they haven't experienced the importance of the family meal in their growing up," she said.

與家人一起吃飯對于預防少女患上飲食紊亂癥具有重要作用。

最新研究顯示，經常與家人一起吃飯的女孩采用極端減肥法的可能性較小，比如：催吐、服用瀉藥或減肥藥。

一項針對2500多名美國中學生的調查發現，每周與家人一起吃飯達到五次或五次以上的女孩日后的飲食習慣要健康得多。

該項在《兒科與青少年醫學檔案》國際期刊上發表的調查開始于1999年，調查對象為13歲至17歲的中學生，他們接受了為期五年的跟蹤調查。調查發現，定期與家人一起吃飯具有“保護”作用，而這與女孩的年齡、體重、社會經濟地位、飲食習慣以及與家人的關系都無關。

有關專家稱，為了預防厭食和貪食等嚴重的飲食紊亂癥，醫生應鼓勵人們都到餐桌上吃飯，而不要坐在電視機前吃。

“橡樹屋”飲食紊亂診所主任比琳達•達爾頓說，與家人一起吃飯有助于促進年輕人的飲食“正常化”。

她說：“當青少年遇到煩惱時，他們會去尋求一些他們能控制的東西，食物就是個很好的選擇。顯然，如果他們能定期與家人一起吃飯，他們的飲食會得到更好的控制。”

“這會讓年輕人感到自己與家人緊密相連，有助于他們建立自尊和自我價值感，而這對預防飲食紊亂具有十分重要的作用。”

厭食紊亂專家克斯蒂•格林伍德說，吃飯時間對于飲食紊亂癥患者來說總是很痛苦。“他們會為自己不正常的飲食習慣感到十分羞愧，而且很少與別人一起吃飯。這可能是因為他們在成長過程中沒體會過與家人一起吃飯的重要性。”