Janice Milliman, Quit Coach, Service Delivery:
Like most families, our household is very busy and it can be difficult to corale everyone for family meal time. When the dinner bell rings, one kid is doing homework and doesn't want to stop forward momentum to break for dinner. And the other is "too busy" playing with Pokémon cards or magnets. Other nights, family dinner time is lost to outside activities. In the United States, only one third of families eat dinner together most nights.
Somewhere along the line, however, I learned that sitting down to a family meal was important, and my husband and I have always made dinner time with the family a priority. Some days are easier than others! In addition to competing activities there's also the occasional negative attitude or sibling bickering which hovers in the dining room like a dark cloud. We haven't even hit the teen years yet!
Knowing the benefits of family meal time makes all those challenging days seem a little less gray.
Nutrition: A March 2000 Harvard study, concluded that children who ate with their family at least 3 times per week consumed more fruits and vegetables, and less fried food, saturated fats, trans fats and soda. Eating with the family on most days of the week resulted in substantially higher intake of dietary fiber, calcium, iron, folate, vitamins B-6, B-12, C and E.
Communication: Those who eat dinner as a family five to seven times per week are forty percent more likely to talk to their parents about a problem. In the age of I-Phones, Facebook and everything electronic, parents and children actually have an opportunity to talk. Isn't that what we used to do before technology found its way into every available minute of our day?
School Performance: Preschoolers tend to have better language skills when the family eats together, according to a Washington State University (WSU) study. Mealtime provides an opportunity for children to have longer conversations with parents and to hear words they rarely would hear other times of the day. Also from the Harvard study, students who regularly ate dinner with their families four or more times a week scored better on achievement tests than those who ate family dinners three or fewer times a week. It found teens having family dinners five or more times a week were forty-two percent less likely to drink alcohol, fifty-nine percent less likely to smoke cigarettes, and sixty-six percent less likely to try marijuana.
For families wanting to make a positive change at meal time, help is out there. WSU has a well developed program titled, Eat Better; Eat Together. An accompanying took kit reduces barriers and aids implementation of family meal time. The PBS website has a parent section with family and child activity ideas, including a printer-friendly and easy to understand 3 page family meal time activity guide.
If sitting down to a family meal makes such a positive impact, I will continue to push through the challenges even as the teen years approach. Any positive behavior of mine that ensures greater life success for my children is well worth the effort, even on the most challenging days.