Table 3. Adjusted mean fruit and vegetable intake (95% CI) by parenting practices and family meal frequency among adolescent participants of Project EAT 2010^a.

	Family Meal Frequency, past weekb
Parenting Practicesc	Infrequent (≤ 2 times)	Occasional (3-4 times)	Frequent (≥ 5 times)
Parent Communication
Low	3.5 (3.3-3.7)†‡	3.6 (3.3-3.8) †‡	3.7 (3.5-4.0) ‡
High	3.3 (3.1-3.6)†	3.7 (3.4-4.0) ‡	4.2 (4.0-4.3)ǁ
Home Availability of Fruits & Vegetables
Never/Rarely	3.0 (2.7-3.3)†	3.2 (2.7-3.6)†‡	3.0 (2.5-3.4) †
Usually/Always	3.6 (3.4-3.7)‡‖	3.7 (3.5-3.9)ǁ	4.1 (4.0-4.3)§
Home Accessibility of Fruits & Vegetables
Never/Rarely	3.0 (2.7-3.3)†	3.3 (2.9-3.7)†‡	3.2 (2.8-3.5)†
Usually/Always	3.6 (3.5-3.8)‡	3.8 (3.5-4.0) ǁ	4.2 (4.0-4.3)§
Parents Model Fruit & Vegetable Intake
Never/Sometimes	3.2 (2.9-3.4)†	3.3 (3.0-3.6)†	3.3 (3.0-3.6)†
On a Regular Basis	3.6 (3.4-3.8)‡	3.9 (3.6-4.1)‡	4.3 (4.2-4.5)ǁ
Parent Encouragement for Healthy Eating
Never/Somewhat	3.3 (3.1-3.5)†	3.3 (3.0-3.5)†	3.5 (3.3-3.7)†‡
Very Much	3.6 (3.4-3.9)‡	4.0 (3.8-4.3)ǁ	4.4 (4.2-4.6)§

^aProject EAT (Eating and Activity in Teens) participants were adolescents recruited from Minneapolis/St.Paul middle and high schools during 2009/2010.

^bMean values are based on five individual linear regression models adjusted for age, gender, ses, ethnicity and energy intake run separately for each of the five parenting practices listed in column one; Family meals based on 1-item assessing past week frequency of eating meals together with all or most of your family living in your house (never, 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7, or 7+ days/week).

^cParenting practice variables are dichotomous. Parent communication scale (score range=1-5) based on 2-items assessing mother/father caring and comfort talking to parents about problems (1=not a lot, 2=a little, 3=somewhat, 4=quite a bit, 5=very much; High= a score of 4 or 5; Low is a score of 1-3); Home Availability based on 1-item assessing how frequently fruits and vegetables were available at home (1=never, 2=sometimes, 3=usually, 4=always); Home Accessibility based on 2-items assessing how frequently fruit was on counter, table or somewhere they could easily get it, and how often there were cut-up vegetables in the fridge (1=never, 2=sometimes, 3=usually, 4=always); Parent modeling based on 4-items assessing if mother/father eats a lot of fruit and eats vegetables with dinner (1=never, 2=rarely, 3=sometimes, 4=on a regular basis), and scores were based on having a least one parent model fruit or vegetable intake on a regular basis; Parent encouragement based on 2-items assessing if mother/father encourages them to eat health foods (1=not at all, 2=a little, 3=somewhat, 4=very much), and scores were based on having at least one parent very much encouraging healthy eating.

^†‡‖§Mean values with different symbol superscripts within each parenting practice family meal frequency combination (comparing 6 values; across rows and columns) represent a statistically significant difference at p<0.05 (e.g., mean fruit and vegetable intake is significantly different when comparing infrequent, occasional and frequent family meals when parent communication is high; when comparing low and high parent communication when family meals are frequent; and when comparing the combination of frequent family meals and high parent communication with any of the other combinations).