Parenting In focus: It’s dinner time

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, April 12, 2023

Eating together is one of the more beneficial times you can spend with a child of any age. Your child learns the importance of spending time with you, and you do the same for them; your time together benefits the entire family.

Your child will more likely eat a well-balanced meal, even if your child is a teenager. A University of Minnesota study shows that eating five to seven family meals per week helps a teen not only eat a well-balanced diet, but also prevents them from having an eating disorder.

They also found that eating together causes teens to be less likely to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes or use drugs, and even results in your teen having a higher grade-point-average. Depression is also less likely to become a problem for teens who eat dinner regularly with their family.

Research from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University also showed a strong link between frequent family dinners and reduced risk that teens will smoke, drink or use illegal drugs.

The research also found that regular family meals reduced the likelihood teens would become sexually active at an early age, get into physical fights, be suspended from school or have thoughts of suicide.

These positive outcomes for eating together don’t even mention the increased happiness that a family encounters when they dine together.

Setting the table

Plan ahead if you want to begin having meals together. You want to think this through before you try to begin eating together.

Make sure you turn off the television and all phones. You want everyone to have a chance to talk. Keep the conversation positive. This is not the appropriate time to complain.

Encourage your child to help with ideas to what to eat at dinner. Be sure to also encourage your child to participate in helping prepare the meal.

When you are all together, anyone can bring up a topic. Talk about the day, school, work, friends or current events. Learn about each other.

The earlier in your child’s life that you begin this time together, the more results you are likely to see. Not only will you see evidence of greater closeness, but also the evidence of more manners, better eating habits and more knowledge about each other.

This is an area well worth spending time to make happen. It brings greater happiness to both the children and the adults in the family. It works for families with very young children and it works for those with teenagers.

Try it. You will be likely to see results rather quickly.

Cynthia Martin is the founder of the First Teacher program and former executive director of Parenting Matters Foundation, which published newsletters for parents, caregivers and grandparents.