Food & Recipes

Tools & Resources

This article is from the WebMD Feature Archive

Font Size

The Family Dinner: Nutrition and Nurturing

Why it's so important to eat together -- and how to find the time

By Kathleen M. Zelman, MPH, RD, LD
WebMD Weight Loss Clinic-Feature

Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD

My fondest memories are times spent lingering around the kitchen table with family and friends, sharing meals and lively conversation.

When I was a child, my parents upheld the ritual of family dinners. The dinner table was revered, with rules prohibiting lecturing, discipline, curlers, bathrobes, undershirts -- anything less than proper attire and behavior. My siblings and I grew up cherishing the undivided attention and love that accompanied the ritual, as well as Mom's homey "cream-of-mushroom-soup" meals.

Recommended Related to Food and Recipes

Frozen Pizzas: Which Taste Best?

That's amore: Americans spend a staggering $39.8 billion on fresh and frozen pizza each year. How does a store-bought frozen pie, popped in the oven or microwaved at home, stack up in terms of taste and texture? To find out, the culinary experts at the Good Housekeeping Research Institute conducted a taste test of 14 national brands of frozen vegetable and pepperoni pizzas — six veggie and eight pepperoni varieties. Check out our reviews of the good and not so good before taking...

Read the Frozen Pizzas: Which Taste Best? article > >

The tradition has now been passed along to my children, who value and look forward to family meals.

Connections and Communication

Sitting down for a family meal is a symbol of love, connections, and communication. Family meals reflect involved parents, who want the opportunity both to talk and to listen to what their kids have to say. It's very comforting to children to know that their parents want to know what's going on in their lives.

Mealtimes can provide quality time for the whole household, fostering family unity and trust, and providing a setting for moral and intellectual discussions that reflect family values. Family meals encourage communication skills, such as patient listening and expressing opinions respectfully. Chatting around the dinner table encourages kids to talk to their parents about sensitive issues. This is also a time to reinforce family traditions and cultural heritage.

Family meals may actually enhance the emotional well-being of teens. A study reported in the 2003 Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine found that adolescents who frequently sat down to family meals had better grades, less depression, and were less likely to drink alcohol, smoke, or use marijuana than kids who ate with their families less than twice a week.

Power Up the Plate

But the benefits of family meals go beyond the warm fuzzy feelings and good communication that happen when we dine together.

Studies verify what some might consider common sense: families that eat together eat more healthfully, consuming less fast food, soft drinks, and fat and more fruits and vegetables. And developing good eating habits early on can help your children be healthier for the rest of their lives.

Making simple changes, one at a time, is the best way to get your family to eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and less fat. Start with working more salads and vegetables into your meals. Then try a vegetarian meal once a week, focusing on foods already familiar to your family like chili or frittatas. Be creative, and remember it may take a few tries before a new food is accepted.

Preparing meals at home us much more economical gives parents control over both the quality and quantity of food. Sensible portion sizes need to be taught at home so kids don't grow up thinking supersized is normal.

Many adults who struggle with their weight never really learned how to identify hunger and fullness. Help your children understand how to eat until they're comfortably satisfied but not full by letting them serve themselves as early as age 5.

Dismiss the instinct to encourage your kids to clean their plates. This only teaches them to follow visual cues when eating instead of tuning in to their sense of satiety.

1 | 2

Next Page >

SHARE What is this?