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Open Heart Women's Ministry

FAMILY MEALS

Frequent family meals help parents raise academically and socially successful, drug-free children. Family meals also reduce obesity and the risk of depression.

Finally – the secret is out – parents now have the key to raising healthy, successful children. The key -- eat dinner together!

Simple, right? Then, why do only half of American families regularly eat dinner together? And, when they do, 34% of those meals are fast food or take out meals.

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) has taken the lead in promulgating this message. In 2005, CASA published a report that spells it out. The main reasons to eat together:

• this anchors a family, even if the food is "fast and cheap."
• regular meals protect your kids, especially teens, from smoking, drinking, taking drugs, and depression.

Turn off TV, Boost Nutrition

Dinnertime is also an opportunity for socializing – not only to learn proper etiquette -- but how to "be a member of [our] culture," states anthropologist Robin Fox, in Time magazine’s lead story on the CASA report (Jan.4, 2006). Frequency is the key to making this work, but the worse thing you could do is give up. The key to improving dinner time: turn off all electronics!

The CASA study and many experts agree that these distractions squelch the social and nutritional benefits of family mealtime.

A 2007 study conducted by the American Dietetic Association examined the influence of TV watching on the types of foods served. They found the number of vegetables served declined significantly when the TV was on during mealtime. Additionally, the CASA study revealed that among those families who eat together three or less times a week, 45% report the TV being on during meals. The ramifications of TV dinners go beyond nutrition. Kids in the families eating with adults less than three times per week reported higher levels of family tension, less conversation, and lower self-esteem than families who eat together more often, without television.

Despite these alarming trends, family mealtime has increased 23% since the late 1990s. Still, the majority of families are not regularly eating together, and according to the Washington Post, we’re spending nearly half of our food budget on eating out.

Educators, nutritionists and pediatricians are beginning to link this trend to the rise in childhood obesity. They have already proven that parents’ eating habits are the #1 predictor of their children’s future habits. Thus, the consequences of all these drive-through dinners are dire. Heart disease and cancer are the leading causes of death in America -- which stem from our eating habits (and a little genetics).

Who’s Doing What?

So, what’s the other half doing? The answers may surprise you:

• Families led by parents with high school level education or less eat together more often than those led by college graduates.
• Foreign-born kids eat with their parents more often, with Hispanic families leading all other ethnic groups. Results showed that more than 50% of Hispanic teens ate with a parent at least six times a week, compared to 40% of black teens and 39% of whites.

This is especially alarming, as studies also found that adolescence is when children need consistent family time, even though they are the least likely to seek it. And, parents are willing to allow teens to spend more time with their peers. Yet, the studies all show: the more parents insist on teens participating in family time, especially meals, the better. Family mealtime reduces smoking by 60%, drug use by 50%, and alcohol use by 66%.

"But, What’s for Dinner?"

If that question still haunts you, don’t give up. Search your community for quick meal services, such as Social Suppers or Dream Dinners. Recipes for 30-minute meals are all over the Internet and in grocery store magazine racks. Drag out the crock pots and invest in an updated cookbook – they’re not all full of cream of mushroom and celery soups, honest!