Why are family meals important?
Eating habits and food preferences are established early in life. Eating meals together as a family promotes healthy eating through positive role modeling and learning about healthy foods. Family meals are a healthy routine which provide children with comfort and security about food. Shared meals are an opportunity to pass along family traditions and help keep families connected and communicating.
Do children who eat meals with their family eat better?
Yes! Eating meals together as a family is linked with better food choices and nutrient intakes as well as healthier weights in children. Studies have found that children who regularly sit down to eat dinner together with their family eat more vegetables and fruits and less fried foods, sweets, salty snacks and pop. Children who eat with their families also consume more fibre, calcium, folate, iron, and vitamins B6, B12, C and E,and less saturated fat and trans fat.
Why eat together?
- Nutrition – Children and teens eat more balanced meals and a wider variety of foods when they eat with their family.
- Tradition – Sharing meals with family members helps pass along family and cultural traditions about food.
- Comfort and security - Children who eat meals regularly together with family and caregivers feel satisfied and secure knowing when they will eat.
- Learning - Sharing meals and helping with meal preparation helps children learn more about food. Parents and caregivers are also important roles models whose behaviour around food helps children learn about how to eat and make healthy food choices.
- Communication - sharing meals gives children and their parents or caregivers time to talk and share information about their day.
Can eating in front of the TV lead to poor eating habits or food choices?
Yes! Television viewing during dinner can undo the positive effects of family meals. Children who eat in front of the TV have been found to eat fewer vegetables and fruit and more fatty foods and pop. TV-viewing during meals reduces nutrient intakes in children and teens. Eating in front of the TV can also lead to over eating or mindless eating, beyond the point where hunger has been satisfied. Eating while watching TV is linked to a higher risk of children (preschoolers to teens) being overweight.
Television viewing can increase desire for and consumption of certain foods, but not necessarily the healthiest choices.
How can you increase the number of meals your family eats together?
- Make a plan. Meals should be quick and nutritious. Plan your busy week night meals ahead of time and buy the foods you need early in advance. Having a plan and the foods on hand when you need them can reduce meal time stress and last minute trips to the store.
- Be flexible with meal timing. When children are involved in sports or programs during meal times - plan to eat your family meal when most of the family can be there. You can also take a breakfast, lunch or dinner as a “meal-to-go” and eat at a park, arena, pool or gym. Keep foods safe to eat and find a clean place to eat. Visit the Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety Education to learn more about food safety.
- Involve kids in meal preparation. They have their likes and dislikes so let them plan a meal and prepare part of it too. Kids who have a hand in making a meal are more likely to enjoy it and eat it too!
- Be a good role model. Plan to serve healthy foods and have your kids see you eat them too. The more times your child sees you eating healthy foods the more likely they will accept them (with preschoolers this might take some time so don't give up). Children eat what their parents eat - so make the healthiest choices available as part of your everyday meals.
- Turn off the TV and enjoy eating and talking with your family at meal times.
The bottom line
Families that eat together eat better! Television viewing during meals can increase nutrient poor food choices. Eating meals together and not eating in front of the TV promotes healthier weights in children. Parents should provide a family meal environment that supports healthful eating. That means eating together and turning off the TV!
Find Out More
Children’s overweight and obesity, by EatRight Ontario
Cooking with kids, by EatRight Ontario
Help my child won’t eat enough vegetables, by EatRight Ontario
Managing family meals, by EatRight Ontario
Parents Influence on children’s eating habits
Dietitians of Canada
Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide, by Health Canada