--- title: Having a Meal Routine Leads to Healthier Eating 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. canonical: https://time.com/4008273/regular-mealtimes-eat-healthy-eating/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-24T17:35:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:58:03.782Z article:section: Health og:title: Regular Mealtimes Make You Eat More Healthily, Study Finds og:description: A little planning ahead could ultimately be good for our eating habits og:url: https://time.com/4008273/regular-mealtimes-eat-healthy-eating/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43ed8a9e86f09a1f/698781538e060123a145a872/time-50-healthiest-foods-tomatoes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: healthiest foods, health food, diet, nutrition, time.com stock, tomatoes, fruits og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Regular Mealtimes Make You Eat More Healthily, Study Finds twitter:description: A little planning ahead could ultimately be good for our eating habits twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43ed8a9e86f09a1f/698781538e060123a145a872/time-50-healthiest-foods-tomatoes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Regular Mealtimes Make You Eat More Healthily, Study Finds > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Should I Eat Pizza? [Watch (HLS stream): Should I Eat Pizza?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/NvpgAWn5.m3u8) (1:39)  _Published 2015-02-12. You might be surprised that four out of five health experts give pizza the thumbs up. But don’t be fooled: these are not greasy thumbs._ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 24, 2015 5:35 PM UTC  Danny Kim for TIME by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 24, 2015 5:35 PM UTC 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) 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":"2026-08-04T07:58:03.782Z","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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