WHAT MAKES HAVING DINNER TOGETHER AS A FAMILY VERY IMPORTANT!
Parents are busy today and dinner as
a family, at the same time every
night, seems impossible. Here are
seven reasons you must change your
thinking about this.
1. Research by Dr. Almudena Sevilla
of the School of Business and
Management at the University of
London and Cristina Borra of the
University of Seville suggests “the
more time we spend with our
children, the better for cognitive
development.” In fact, A 2012 study
by social scientists at the University
of Chile looking at the time-diaries
of mothers and children showed that
one more hour of maternal time per
week can move a child as many as
five positions higher in a class of 30.
Take away eating as a family and
you’re risking the development of
your child.
2. Several years ago, Pediatrics
reported a study suggesting,
“Regular family meals improve
children’s nutrition and encourage
healthy eating habits. But the most
important finding is that eating
regular family meals can impact
childhood obesity. The results show
children and adolescents who share
at least three family meals per week
are more likely to be a healthy
weight and less likely to have
developed an eating disorder than
children who didn’t have regular
family meals. This can have a huge
impact on their high school years.
3. Family meals lay the groundwork
for a child’s future. I know a young
dentist who spent 18 years listening
to his father talk about his
advertising agency at dinnertime.
Five years after he graduated from
dental school he has eight dental
practices, because of the marketing
skills he learned over nightly meals.
4. Listening to their parents discuss
real world issues every night
enables a child’s vocabulary to jump
leaps and bounds. When else will
they learn words like “civil rights,”
“advocacy,” “democracy,” and
“justice,” unless it’s over dinner
when they are five. Eighth grade?
This of course will dramatically
impact a child’s ability to read when
they are young as well as taking
tests like the College Boards years
later.
5. Family dinners are where a child
learns how to express her opinions
and that it’s safe to do so. By
listening to their news of what
happened that day, you teach them
that what they have to say is
important. They also learn how to
listen and not interrupt. You’ll be
surprised at how even the youngest
child can participate in a
conversation.
6. Family dinners are where you pass
along your morals and values to your
children in an nonthreatening and
uncritical way. Research has shown
that parents who take the time to
eat dinner with their kids at least
five days a week are more likely to
raise kids who understand and
respect boundaries. And research has
demonstrated the amount of time
parents and kids eat together has a
direct correlation to reduced high-
risk behaviors. If you just wave
goodbye to your kids in the morning,
you’re waving goodbye to their
future. Because you’ll have no idea
what’s really going on in their lives,
until a principal or police officer tells
you.
7. Families who eat dinner together
tend to eat more healthy meals. I’m
making the gigantic leap that dinner
has been cooked at home. Because a
home-cooked meals generally
include more fruits, more
vegetables, less Coke. Kids, once
introduced to healthy meals will
soon be all over the Internet
learning about nutrition and organic
eating and so on. Moms and dads
tend to cook less fried foods,
probably because it’s a pain to make,
but also they start thinking about
their kid’s health.
Like all things about good parenting,
serving a home cooked meal every
night, making sure everyone shows
up for dinner, rather then getting a
thirteen year-old to talk about her
day can be a pain.
But it’s worth it.
Because it eliminates so many
parenting problems down the road.
Your views are most welcome...
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