Meals are a constant consideration in any busy household. Under my roof, not only are there neurodivergent traits, an eating disorder history, and single-parenting struggles to account for, but also the reality of our daily schedule:
Sometimes we’re spilling through the door at 6:15 p.m., hangry from a day at school, work, and activities, and there’s limited time before the youngest needs to go to bed (or have a meltdown trying)……Story continues….
Source: How to Make Family Dinners More Impactful
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Critics:
Family dinner means we’re sitting around our dining table, eating and talking with each other. No phones or other electronic devices are present. So, whether we have a home-cooked meal or a plastic Panda Express bowl in front of us, we’re together and we’re at the table. When a family sits down together, it helps them handle the stresses of daily life and the hassles of day-to-day existence.
Eating together tends to promote more sensible eating habits, which in turn helps family members manage their weight more easily. Studies have tied shared family meals to increased re- siliency and self-esteem in children, higher academic achievement, a healthier relationship to food, and even reduced risk of substance abuse and eating disor- ders.
Family-style dining includes an affordable menu, seated table service, and a warm and relaxed atmosphere. “Family-style” is a method of dining where servers place all components of a meal on the table and allow everyone to serve themselves. They place large serving dishes in the middle of the table. If the meal is eaten with others at the table, talking about their day or anything else on their minds, it’s a family dinner.
A take-out dinner may not have the same nutritional value as a home-cooked meal because restaurant food tends to be higher in fat, salt, and sugar. Studies show that children who share three or more family meals per week are more likely to have a healthy weight and a healthier diet than those who share fewer than three family meals.
Even though the ATUS data indicate that slightly more than half of dinners are eaten with family (compared to the NSCH, which says about three-quarters of families regularly eat with each other), both datasets show that the trend in eating dinner with family is slightly up since the early 2000s. A 2018 study in JAMA Network Open found that eating meals with family members is associated with a better diet overall, especially among adolescents.
2 Teens who ate with family were more likely to consume more fruits and vegetables and less fast food and sugary beverages. Family dinner increases self-esteem and resiliency in children and teens and decreases their risk of depression. With anxiety and depression being seen and noted more frequently in children across all age groups, eating meals together is a simple and effective way to curb those risks.
A family meal is when you all down together, facing each other, and share the same food, no matter what you eat. Following the division of responsibility in feeding helps keep family meals pleasant.
- Plan the Menu. First thing’s first: You need to plan the menu. To do this, take into consideration everyone’s dietary and taste preferences….
- Pick a Location. Choose where you plan to serve dinner. …
- Get the Kids Involved. Getting the kids involved with cooking is another way to enjoy more cozy dinners with the family.
Keep staples like whole grains (brown rice, quinoa, whole wheat pasta), canned beans, low-sodium broths, and a variety of spices on hand. Opt for snacks like nuts, seeds, and dried fruits for quick, nutritious options. When a family sits down together, it helps them handle the stresses of daily life and the hassles of day-to-day existence. Eating together tends to promote more sensible eating habits, which in turn helps family members manage their weight more easily.
Studies have tied shared family meals to increased re- siliency and self-esteem in children, higher academic achievement, a healthier relationship to food, and even reduced risk of substance abuse and eating disor- ders. If we have a sugar spike after eating late, our body has a harder time regulating blood sugar, Panda says. This could put us at risk of diabetes and other metabolic disorders. For that reason, he says the ideal dinnertime is three to four hours before bed.
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