Why Family Meals MatterThe most important conversation of our lives happens around the family dinner table. Food nourishes life. Sharing it with family, nurtures living. September is National Family Meals Month and is meant to encourage families everywhere to share at least one meal a week. When we return to the kitchen to enjoy wholesome meals together as a family, this unpretentious ritual has more power resulting in children who are smarter, stronger, healthier, happier and well-adjusted. Eat meals together as a family as often as you can. This one simple yet often hard to make happen activity is so important it should be a main priority of strengthening your family. Once you have children, sitting down to eat a meal as a family is difficult when competing with conflicting schedules and other factors jobs, sport practices and games, school meetings, club activities its a struggle but it is vital to giving your child the advantage they need to succeed in this world. If everyone in the family can sit down together at least one meal a day (usually dinner) several times a week, this can have a significant impact and influence your child in ways you may not have realized. Even though an article in the Washington Post came out stating that eating alone is a fact of life for many Americans, this should not be the case for children. Children and teens need connection, social interaction and guidance from their parents and eating meals together is one of the best ways to make that happen. There are three main advantages your child will gain growing up having regular family meals: 1. Improved academic success Improves academic successChildren and teenagers who eat with their family often during the week, ideally at least 5 times a week, see the following academic improvements: They tend to have better school grades Improves family dynamicsThe simple act of eating regular meals together works its magic in the way your child feels connected to the family creating a sense of belonging. When children and teens know that mealtime is a priority, they feel more engaged with their family and less likely to become involved with risky behavior. This significantly impacts their view of life with numerous studies conducted to back this up resulting in: Less likely to smoke cigarettes, try marijuana or other illicit
drugs Improves eating habitsExtensive research has shown that frequent family meals promotes more healthful food intake in children and teens. These studies have demonstrated the following health benefits your child can gain: Less likely to skip breakfast Making family meals happenGathering the family around the dinner table frequently can be a struggle but its worth the effort. You dont have to be a gourmet cook having order-in pizza together qualifies as a family meal. If having frequent family meals is not a part of your current lifestyle, its not too late to make it happen. Here are some ideas to consider: Look at your calendar and schedule in what days of the week
will work. If all families across this nation would make family mealtimes a priority in their life, think how this could change the dynamics of our home life. The simple act of sitting around a table eating food, keeping the atmosphere pleasant and enjoying one anothers company, could change our culture for the better in so many ways one meal at a time.
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