Enjoying meals together strengthens our family’s relationships.

Denis July 29, 2019

We make it a priority for our family to sit down together for at least one meal each day. Even though our days are long and our schedules are full, we still make time for one another because spending time together strengthens our bond.

We plan our meals together. Where possible, dinner is served at the same time each day to ensure other commitments don’t interfere with our time.

We encourage the family to come together in peace. We refrain from discussing negative topics during dinner because we want it to remain a positive experience. The conversation around the dinner table remains welcoming and joyful.

The dinner table is the place where we share exciting news, tell funny stories, and talk about the day. There is no judgment. Our family members are free to share what is in their hearts during mealtimes. We enjoy listening to each member of the family and they enjoy listening to us.

Conversations at our table demonstrate our values and teach our children essential communication skills. The children look forward to gathering for meals. We are teaching our children responsibility and the value of serving one another by asking them to help set up and clear the table.

Model Positive Eating Behavior

You are an important role model for good table manners, trying new foods, and enjoying mealtimes. Children and youth are more likely to eat foods their parents and family also enjoy eating.
Make offering new foods part of your regular mealtime routine. Children often need to see, smell, and touch a food many times before trying it. Offer new foods with familiar foods and include foods your child has refused in the past.
Not everyone likes every food, and that’s okay. Encourage kids to say “no, thank you,” or teach them what you would like them to do or say if they don’t want to eat something.
Trust children to show or tell you how much they want to eat and when they are finished eating. An important part of healthy eating is learning to stop when they are full. Being forced or pressured to finish food can make your child ignore their internal hunger and fullness cues.
Try not to rush children through a meal. Children often take longer to eat than adults. Remind children to eat slowly, chew their food well and enjoy what they are eating.

Health and Social Benefits to Eating Together

People of all ages eat better when they share a meal with others. They tend to eat more fruits and vegetables and other nutrient-rich foods. They also eat less junk food.

Eating together gives young children the chance to learn more words and how to communicate better.

Other benefits for kids and teens include:

healthier eating into adulthood
healthier body weight
lower risk of disordered eating
fewer behavior problems and decreased early sexual activity
better self-esteem and less depression
better grades and higher scores on achievement tests at school
The benefits of eating together are greatest if you don’t eat in front of the TV and other screens. The television, cell phone, or any other distraction is avoided during mealtimes. We engage with each other, taking full advantage of the present.

Related Questions:

How can we encourage our family to eat more meals together?

Eating together is more likely to happen when everyone helps.
Involve kids of all ages in planning, shopping for and preparing meals. These are important life skills that can help us eat well.
Children and others new to the kitchen can help in the following ways: take foods out of the fridge or cupboard, tear up lettuce for a salad, sprinkle cheese on a pizza, help wash fruits and vegetables, layer fixings in a sandwich, or put muffin liners in the pan.
Kids with more experience in the kitchen can do the following: crack eggs, toss a salad, measure ingredients, stir ingredients in a bowl, put batter into muffin tins, roll balls of cookie dough and put them on the baking sheet, or pick herbs from the garden.
Children are more likely to eat the foods they help you to prepare.
Cooking together is a great way to connect with each other and have fun!
Use a combination of fresh ingredients and ready-made foods to make fast, easy meals. Over time, make more from scratch. Remember, the meal doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s the time together that’s important.
Cooking is a great time to teach about food safety. Remind children to wash their hands before and after preparing food, to wash vegetables and fruit before eating, and not to mix ready-to-eat foods with foods that need to be cooked.
Cooking together is also a great way to teach kids about kitchen safety. Always supervise their activities. Getting burned or cut puts an end to the fun fast!

What would be pleasant topics to discuss during dinner?

If our family had a theme song, what would it be?
What made you smile today?
What is something you will always remember about the person to your right?
What could you do to make the world a better place?
What do you think the biggest problem in the world is?
Who is the smartest person you know?
Name two things you want do as a family on the weekend.
What is something you are really proud of?
Where is the best place you have ever been?
Name 5 things that make you smile.
What would be your ideal home cooked meal?
What are 3 ways you like to get exercise?
What is one thing you want to learn how to do?
Describe your favorite holiday?

How can we make meal times more enjoyable for the whole family?

Eating together provides a time to be connected. This helps children feel loved, safe and secure.
Focus on enjoying each other’s company, not on what or how much each child is eating.
Use meal times to teach children about family values and traditions.
Keep mealtime conversations positive. Encourage children to talk about their day. This helps to develop more communication between family members.
Schedule difficult or disciplinary conversations for some time other than meals.

Children who grow their own vegetables are FIVE times more likely to eat them.

Researchers found that children are five times more likely to eat salad when they have grown it themselves. On normal days just 2% of students added salad to their main meal. When salad was grown by pupils, 10% of pupils chose the healthy option. If you have trouble persuading your children to eat their greens, give them a trowel and send them out into the garden. Researchers have found that children who learn to grow vegetables are more likely to eat healthily.

What are 10 easy vegetables to plant with children?

1. Sugar snap peas. Sweet, crunchy pods that beg to be eaten right off the vine; these also make a terrific lunchbox snack.

2. Lettuce, spinach, and other leafy greens. These are dead easy to plant and grow and can thrive in a patio pot, too. Sprinkle a new line of seeds every two weeks, and you’ll have homegrown salad all season.

3. Radishes. They grow like superheroes, ready to eat in a month.

4. Carrots. Another quick-grower. The tiny seeds need to be sprinkled carefully, but soon you’ll have real baby carrots,

5. Potatoes. We recommend you get some seed potatoes, allow them to develop sprouts, this only takes a few days on a sunny window sill. Plant the seed potatoes deep in a container and cover with only a bit of soil. As the shoots emerge above the soil, keep covering the shoots as this will encourage a bigger yield. In approximately 90 days you can harvest yummy new potatoes.

6. Green beans. It’s fun to plant the big seeds, and beans are delicious raw or cooked.

7. Cherry tomato. Buy a small plant at the local garden store, and you’ll be picking super sweet orange orbs off these prolific vines until frost. If you’ve got the space, plant a red grape tomato, too.

8. Pumpkins. They take a bit more space, and you’ll have to wait until autumn to harvest.

9. Zucchini. Zucchini is easy to start from seed, needs almost no upkeep, and will give you more produce than you’ll know what to do with. Don’t plant more than 1 or 2 plants.

10. Broccoli. You might be surprised to see what kids like when they’ve planted and harvested the crop themselves. Garden broccoli is sweet and tender. Buy plants at the local garden store to speed up harvest.

To spend just a few precious moments with the people we love most, while we have them with us, is a privilege, not a burden.