Who wouldn’t want help with dinner?
We know so many families are busy and sometimes budgets are tight. We all could use a reminder of the importance of family meals. It is helpful to understand the benefits of eating together, above just helping kids be a little less cranky.
Not only does sharing meal times at an expected time help children feel safe and secure, filling a fundamental need, it also benefits them with protective factors against substance abuse. A 2012 study done by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, found that children and teens who have frequent family dinners are at 70 percent lower risk for substance abuse.
The chart below shows that parents know more about what’s going on in their teen’s life when they have more dinners together.
The Columbia University report states “the magic that happens at family dinners isn’t the food on the table, but the conversations and family engagement around the table.”
David Schramm, Utah State University Extension family life specialist wrote, “A wise professor once told me that the purpose of the task is to strengthen the relationship. With that in mind, the ultimate purpose of family meals is not just to eat, but to eat together, talk, listen and share. It’s important to turn off screens – phones and TVs – to focus on relationships. And it starts with meal prep together, even shopping together, and then cooking together as well as the clean up after. These are all opportunities to talk – not necessarily about food, but about life and relationships. Eating together helps foster a sense of connectedness in the family and provides an ideal setting for adults to encourage positive communication and social skills in their children.”
So let’s all put a little more thought and a little more time into our family meals, knowing that we aren’t just taking care of physical needs, but that there are many more benefits beyond that.
You can make your dinner time a little more fun with these dinner table conversation starters. If you or someone you know is dealing with food scarcity, please see the 211utah.org from the United Way, to find local food resources. The USU extension has a weekly meal plan with recipes, choose one to try out this week.
Sources:
https://drugfree.org/reports/the-importance-of-family-dinners-viii/
https://extension.usu.edu/news_sections/home_family_and_food/family-mealtime-worth-it