Research has found that watching television at the same time when you have dinner is not a healthy habit in most low-income families with preschool children. When kids are watching television, they prefer to eat alone almost all the time but a kid who has dinner with their family benefits from more healthy food.

Arlene Spark, associate professor of nutrition at Hunter College in New York City told Health Day news, "We would like to say turn the television off and speak to one another...But it's a good practice to be able to interact with children and family."

A team of researchers at the New York state department of health surveyed more than 1,300 parents of children participating in New York's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children on eating habits.

It was found that when the family had dinner together, kids usually had fruits or vegetables as compared to eating alone when the servings of fruits or vegetables decreased as kids had dinner watching television.

The study, which appears in the April issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, also found that Hispanic and black parents tend to have their television sets on during dinner more often than white parents. Hispanics and whites ate dinner together more often than black families. It was also found that kids whose parents have had less than a high school education tended to have the TV on more often.

Dr. Barbara A. Dennison, senior author of the study said, "Lots of studies have found that when families eat together and presumably talk, kids eat healthier and do better, they're less likely to drink and use drugs. It's pro-social behavior."

Experts have recommended that families should discourage having TVs in dining rooms or where they eat in. "There are things to do to change the home environment so it's not easy to have the TV on while eating dinner," the researchers added.