--- description: People who have an eating routine and eat at regular times, as well as bring their meals from home, have healthier diets overall new research suggests. title: Regular Mealtimes Make You Eat More Healthily, Study Finds image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43ed8a9e86f09a1f/698781538e060123a145a872/time-50-healthiest-foods-tomatoes.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Diet & Nutrition](/tag/dietnutrition/) ## Diet & Nutrition Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Regular Mealtimes Make You Eat More Healthily, Study Finds by [Alexandra Sifferlin](/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 24, 2015 5:35 PM CUT  Danny Kim for TIME by [Alexandra Sifferlin](/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 24, 2015 5:35 PM CUT People who eat at regular times and pack lunches instead of eating out have healthier diets overall, [new research](http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9850356&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S1368980014002717 "undefined") suggests. In a new study published in the journal _Public Health Nutrition_ researchers found that college students who made their meals at home and regularly consumed breakfast and an evening meal, had overall better diets. They avoided fast food and sugary drinks and ate more vegetables and fruit compared to people who did not keep an eating routine. People who ate on the run, or used media while they ate or purchased food often ate less healthily. A little planning ahead, and turning off the TV while we eat could ultimately be good for our eating habits, the data suggests. “In addition to considering specific food choices, it also may be important to consider the context of mealtimes in developing dietary messaging and guidelines,” the authors write. The researchers suggested the U.S. develop dietary guidelines for healthy eating that take inspiration from other countries that make eating context a priority. For instance, the researchers write that in Japan it’s recommended to “enjoy communication at the table with your family” and “establish a healthy rhythm by keeping regular hours for meals.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4008273/regular-mealtimes-eat-healthy-eating/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4008273/regular-mealtimes-eat-healthy-eating/"},"headline":"Regular Mealtimes Make You Eat More Healthily, Study Finds","datePublished":"2015-08-24T17:35:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:23:25.992Z","description":"And packing your own lunch can help too","url":"https://time.com/4008273/regular-mealtimes-eat-healthy-eating/","keywords":["Diet & Nutrition","Cooking","Healthy Eating"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43ed8a9e86f09a1f/698781538e060123a145a872/time-50-healthiest-foods-tomatoes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43ed8a9e86f09a1f/698781538e060123a145a872/time-50-healthiest-foods-tomatoes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"healthiest foods, health food, diet, nutrition, time.com stock, tomatoes, fruits","caption":"healthiest foods, health food, diet, nutrition, time.com stock, tomatoes, fruits","creditText":"Danny Kim for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/dietnutrition/","name":"Diet & Nutrition"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4008273/regular-mealtimes-eat-healthy-eating/","name":"Regular Mealtimes Make You Eat More Healthily, Study Finds"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Should I Eat Pizza?","description":"You might be surprised that four out of five health experts give pizza the thumbs up. 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