by JT Till

Created on: February 04, 2011   Last Updated: February 14, 2011

In today’s fast paced society where we rush from one task to another, it’s difficult for family’s to eat together. Statistics reflectt less than 50% of Americans eat 5-6 meals together as a family unit.

Earlier, when mothers were primarily home makes and not working in the job market, families ate almost every meal together. Now, you may ask, “What’s the difference”? “Why is it so important that we eat together as a family”? Below are just a few reasons.

* Communication skills- Research shows that the more frequently family’s eat together, the better communication and language skills develop.As people interact with, and communicate with each other, they are more apt to pick up good conversation skills, and a better vocabulary.Today, many families that do eat together sit in front of the TV just being robotically entertained. The key here is to talk as a family without interacting negatively. Keep dinnertime special, let the answering machine get the phone, turn the cell phones off, and the biggest distraction, the TV, keep it off while eating.

* Better Nutrition- That’s right, better nutrition. When you prepare meals at home, you are more likely to have fresh fruits and vegetables and can serve smaller portions than at restaurants, not to mention the money it saves.

* Family Bonding- Family unity, manners, and family loyalty are all traits which are developed by eating together. Studies show that by eating at least 5.4 meals together, you greatly decrease disruptive behavior like drinking, smoking and drug abuse. In fact, a Columbia University study shows that teens that only eat dinner with their families twice a week or less are:

* 3 times as likely to try marijuana
* 2.5 times more likely to smoke cigarettes
* 1.5 times as likely to try alcohol

Even though mealtimes my be hard to coordinate, the facts well out weigh the alternatives. Try and premake meals ahead of time when there are a few minutes to spare, freeze, and then cook them as time permits. It doesn’t really matter what you have, the key is eating together as a family. Even pizza and sub night is fine as long as you are all together.

Eating together is very important, so grab the family, sit down together, and share a meal. The more times you do this, the closer your family will become. So, share a meal and start sharing your lives.

Source: Background: Research on Family Meals
Martha Marino, MA, RD, CD and
Sue Butkus, PhD, RD, http://nutrition.wsu.edu/ebet/background.html

Source: Carter, Jaine and James D. Carter, Scripps Howard News Service. "Eating Together Strengthens Family Ties." www.newschief.com/stories/022799/lif_family.shtml

Source: "Family Dinner Experiments." Transcript from the Oprah Winfrey Show, November 19, 1993.

Source: Cullen, KW and T Baranowski. "Influence of family dinner on food intake of 4th to 6th grade students." Paper presented at The American Dietetic Association's Food and Nutrition Conference, October 2000.

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