The Importance of Having a Meal with Family

With different reasons and opinions, it seems like everyone knows the benefits of having a meal with family. However, when the children have grown up, they become busier, and eating together becomes a difficult thing to do. Every day all family members have prepared their respective activities. At night, the parents arrive home at past supper time. Not only the parents, children are also busy with various activities from school, extracurricular activities, and extra courses outside of school.

Children have their meals at school or even on the school bus. At home, it’s very rare to find them sit quietly enjoying dinner.

Many studies reveal the benefits of eating with family. One of them is to increase the intimacy of family relationships. It is said that having a meal together is healthy, increasing marriage quality and improving children’s health. In order not to get bored, you can also take your family to have a meal at a restaurant. If you are looking for family dining in Gymea, Tradies is one restaurant that you can enjoy the evening with your family.

Enjoying a meal together is the most appropriate time to learn social skills. Chatting casually about various exciting and fun things at the dinner table can also develop children’s social abilities.

Chat at the dinner table also increases vocabulary in children, and it’s a good time for children to express themselves better. It shows that the parents hear their thought and respect them. As parents, you can teach children good manners and give them an excellent example of eating etiquette at the dinner table. For example, kids may not talk when their mouth is still full of food, and you can tell them to chew and swallow first. Then, they should listen to other people talking. You can argue at the dinner table, but you can’t be rude and play food.

From the health side, having a meal together is believed to make us healthier, with a note that the menu presented is always healthy meals. Children who regularly eat with their families tend to have healthier eating patterns. They eat more fruits and vegetables, eat less fried food, soda, and saturated fat compared to children who do not eat with their family. Thus, eating together regularly can reduce the risk of obesity and eating disorders in children.