What’s good about family meals
> When families eat together, they usually talk together. Kids have bigger vocabularies, are better listeners, and are better able to express their opinions civilly.
> Families that regularly eat together know each other better. And when children, especially teens, feel that their parents understand them and know what’s going on in their lives, they’re less likely to smoke and abuse drugs or alcohol. That’s big, because a child who makes it to age 21 without using illegal drugs, abusing alcohol, or smoking is virtually certain never to do so, according to a report from the US National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (Casa).
> Kids who eat with their family fewer than three times per week are more than twice as likely to get Cs or lower in school than those who eat together more frequently (20% vs 9%), according to the Casa report.
Ideally, you’d start having family meals every night of the week. But that sounds a little overambitious for your family (and most others) right now.
So I suggest that you ease into it. Start with once or twice a week. And in the interest of getting everyone on board, pizza or some other kind of takeout food is fine.
While good nutrition is important, the face-to-face conversations you’ll have with your spouse and kids are more important. Over time, gradually switch to healthy homecooked meals.
Be sure to make family meal time relaxed and comfortable. If your kids suspect that sitting down to dinner is nothing but a ruse to grill and pressure, you’ll lose them immediately.
It’s all about the relationships. Finally, make your meals electronics-free. No phones, no tablets, no TV. Focus on getting to know each other well. – McClatchy-Tribune Information Services
Armin Brott is the author of
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Readers may e-mail him at armin@askmrdad.com.