Meeting-point: Dinner-table

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A dinner table with many plates of food.

Why eating together is about more than only eating together

The rhythm and communality of meals is increasingly declining, especially in the western world. Until the 19th century, when parents were suddenly occupied full-time in factories, most families used to eat all three meals together. But whereas only 100 years ago the call to the table marked a time where everything – homework, work, music, sports, playing etc. – had to give way to community, meals are becoming less regular and are taken in increasingly separately. Restaurant visits, finger food, take-away, ready-to-eat and TV-dinners are becoming the norm rather than an exception. That this trend is actually taking place is shown by the fact that the sales for dinner-tables, plates and cutlery are declining. This eating-trend can be attributed mostly to a change in our society where both parents work and even children have a tight schedule of school and after-school activities.

But why should we care that family dinners are becoming something of the past? Multiple studies in different domains have investigated the effect of eating together as a community and the results have shown that we indeed should consider this problem and make family-meals a ritual at least once a day. Eating is a central element of our daily lives but its meaning goes beyond satisfying physical needs as the way how we take in food has considerable effects on both physical, psychological and social development, especially of children.

Physical aspects:

Children that eat together with the family tend to eat more healthy. Children that live in families that eat more than three times together per week have a 12% lower risk of becoming obese. This is mainly attributed to the fact that one tends to eat slower when in company and therefore notices the bodies signals that it had enough better. Children learn by imitating their parents and other adults. So generally if parents set an example of a healthy relationship towards food – regular and balanced meals and a respectful and valuing attitude towards it – children will also be more likely to value this attitude and implement it themselves as adults.

Psychological aspects:

In between meetings and activities (both parents and children) a meal together provides security and consistency and allows families to share anecdotes, experiences, problems etc. of the day. This exchange of information means that the individual family members engage more and with each other and know what is currently happening in the lives of each other. Families can therefore detect problems like bullying or difficulties at school quicker which allows them to act appropriately and in time by simple communication. The University of Minnesota has further found that meals together is also a natural protection against developing eating disorders like anorexia (study with 5000 teenagers). In addition to that the study „Canadian Health behaviour in school-aged children“ has shown that teenagers that eat regularly with the family also tend to be emotionally more stable and are more self-confident. This is further proved by the study of the University of Minnesota, which shows that regular meals together correlate with lower rates of depression and suicidal thoughts as well as more positive views for the future.

Academic aspects:

Dinnertime is a time for conversation as already mentioned above. Also if it seems that the biology-joke about the mushroom or the anecdote of how dad used to steal the car of his dad, seem to be totally useless and academically worthless, they are actually not! Dinnertime conversations boost children’s vocabulary more than the classic bed-time story read aloud before putting off the light because it is not one-way communication but involved communication. In addition to that, they also pose an opportunity to expand general and cultural knowledge. Later on in the academic career, it is also a more powerful predictor of high achievement scores as time spent on homework, doing sports or music. Teens that eat 5-7 times together with the family are twice as likely to get As in school.

However, the presence of the family alone is not the key to success. The whole atmosphere and trappings have to be right, too. Radio, music, the computer and especially the TV and phone should be switched off during the meal so that eating is perceived as an independent event and not as something that happens apropos of nothing and also allows a better communication between family members. Furthermore, children should be included in all processes linked to the meal – this includes choosing, preparing and cooking it as well as setting the table and cleaning it afterwards.

Summarising the above points it can be claimed that eating together as a family is beneficial for both body, brain and soul, even if the meal is not always 3-courses and 100% organic. Humans are not only what they eat but also how and where they eat and with whom. Nevertheless, it has to be noted that eating together does not necessarily directly make children healthier, more intelligent or save them from negative and unhealthy lifestyles, but it can be the groundwork that points them in the right direction if the parents set an example of a healthy eating-rhythm and style. Maybe as a last point, it should be said that it has also been shown that colleagues eating together in their break tend to work better together as they are more understanding and at ease with each other. Eating can therefore be described as social glue that holds society together; family is the smallest entity of society.

Sources:

http://www.zeit.de/1998/29/199829.stimmts_warmes_e.xml

http://www.netmoms.de/magazin/kinder/kinderernaehrung/warum-gemeinsam-essen-so-wichtig-ist/

http://www.urbia.de/magazin/familienleben/gemeinsam-essen-staerkt-familien

http://www1.wdr.de/wissen/mensch/gemeinsam-essen-130.html

http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/44117/1/9789241597494_eng.pdf?ua=1

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/11/dinners-ready/416991/

http://www.sirc.org/publik/food_and_eating_1.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/01/12/the-most-important-thing-you-can-do-with...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timi-gustafson/family-dinner_b_1898387.html

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