Numerous research findings have documented the positive impact of having family dinners. Not only do kids get better nutrition, sharing meals as a family has been found to give kids a boost in the classroom, improve language skills in preschoolers, increase communication, and overall promote better adjustment of kids. Some of you may remember in the early 90’s when Oprah conducted a “Family Dinner Experiment” challenging five families to eat dinner together every night for a month. Initially it was a challenge but by the end, most wanted to continue. The big surprise to many of the parents was just how much the children loved it, including the ones who complained about it at the beginning.
New research by Jess Haines and colleagues at Harvard Medical School has been examining whether or not having dinner together with your kids aged 9 to 14 can serve to prevent eating disorders. In this longitudinal study of over 13,000 preadolescents and adolescents, they found that female youth who ate dinner with members of their family most days or every day of the week were less likely to initiate purging behaviors, binge eating, and frequent dieting in the following year. Now we know that not only does this important routine bring present day rewards, it also helps stave off more serious problems down the line. To the cooks in the family: remember these positives when the kids complain about whatever it is that you are serving…
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