Adolescents that eat frequent family dinners at home have improved eating habits over adolescents that do not.
However, their BMI is not lower… most likely because they continue to eat a comparable amount of high-sugar, high-fat snack foods.
Those eating family meals were more likely to also have parental nutritional guidance, television limits, fruit at home, five fruits and vegetables servings per day, daily breakfast, and lunch brought from home.
PMID: 18947431
Sounds like the parents that provide the structure of family meals are doing that as part of a larger foundation for their kids. That means their kids will have healthy eating skills when they strike out on their own. Whether they choose to use them or not, they have a head start on others.