Family Meal Time

Eating together as a family is getting harder and harder with recent times. Moms and dads both work and don't get home until 5:30-6:00 or later, so dinner has to be fast. Often times it's eaten in front of the television. Children have soccer, dance, football, softball, basketball, karate, piano, band, etc. and therefore aren't home. Teens want to be out with their friends instead of home for dinner. If everyone is so busy, then why even bother trying to have dinner (or any meal) as a family? Research shows many benefits to eating together as a family including reduced childhood obesity, which is affected by a child's eating habits. This article by Today's Dietitian discusses the benefits of eating together and tips on how to make family mealtime more effective and easier to do. Some of the benefits listed in the article include:
• a 12% reduction in the risk of being overweight;

• a 20% decline in the consumption of unhealthful foods;

• a 35% decrease in disordered eating, such as bingeing, purging, using diet pills, fasting, and skipping meals; and

• a 24% increase in the consumption of healthful foods.

It talks about parental influence, the role of television, and includes tips for increasing family meal time. These tips include the areas of in the kitchen, at the dinner table, and outside the home. It has fantastic tips and this article is written by a dietitian/nutrition expert. It utilitzed many scientific references to ensure that it is science based and evidence backed. It is an excellent read, especially for moms and dads who both work, are single parents, or have children who are involved in extracurricular activites!

I hope you all enjoy the read!

Kara

*this is NOT a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. :)