Compelling Reasons… Pat Knew!

September 27, 2023

Sometimes you just have to put your foot down and say this is the way we’re going to do it. We will have dinner together.

Instinctively, most of us know that there is value in eating together as a family, regardless of what our family looks like. However, life can get crazy with sports, music lessons, late business meetings etc., making scheduling dinner together a challenge. I once gained interesting advice from Pat, a woman who had been a stay-at-home mom. Pat ruled her household of nine (gasp yes, seven children!) and one of her rules was that they all ate dinner together. Her husband worked in a job that often had him meeting clients after regular work hours. She insisted that he be home for dinner every night, and then he could go back to work if necessary. She knew, without the aid of surveys or scientific research data, that families that ate together were more connected, plus healthier both mentally and physically. She just knew.

Not all of us have the same innate wisdom of Pat and need reminding why it is so valuable to eat meals together. Research suggests very powerful reasons to prioritize family meals.

Mental Health Benefits:

Children who grow up sharing family meals are more likely to exhibit prosocial behavior as adults, such as sharing, fairness, and respect. We learn from each other.

The more often teens share family meals the less likely they will suffer depression, use or abuse drugs, and less likely to engage in delinquent acts. As those of us who have gone through the teen years, not all conversations with teens are easy and happy. However, conversations at the dinner table teach our kids to resolve problems, bounce ideas off each other and feel they will be supported.

Teens who eat dinner with their parents regularly develop better relationships with them, do better in school, and are at lower risk of using drugs, drinking or smoking. Teens are challenged every day with risky choices and the more they feel connected the more empowered they are to make good decisions. In fact, 71% of teens surveyed said that they consider catching up and spending time with family members the best part of family dinners.

Physical Health Benefits:

Adults and children who eat at home more regularly are less likely to suffer from obesity.

People who eat the most home-cooked meals eat healthier and consume about 130 fewer calories daily, on average.

Kids and teens that share meals with their family three or more times per week are significantly less likely to be overweight, more likely to eat healthy foods and less likely to have eating disorders.

Adolescents who participate in even one or two family meals per week are less likely to be overweight or obese in adulthood compared to adolescents who never participate in family meals.

These are all very compelling reasons to eat more meals together at home. As most of us know, getting dinner on the table is the hard part. In fact, can you believe that 63% of Americans decide what to eat less than an hour before eating? Sure, I have those days, but I don’t like them as much as when I have my DinnerTime plan in place. It’s my toolkit for dinner survival!

It takes just a few minutes to create this week’s DinnerTime Meal Plan. Editing my meal plan is key.

• Sometimes I double the portions so we can re-heat the next night or pick a meal we can all make together such as pizza.
• I like to edit my sides because I like to stick to 2-3 vegetables all week, for example, salad materials, broccoli and green beans.
• I check my DinnerTime Grocery List to see if there is anything else we may need to add such as paper towels. This is a good time to update my DinnerTime Pantry Manager.
• I send the DinnerTime Grocery List to my hubby to shop!
• With our supplies on hand and plan in place, we usually get a weeknight dinner on the table in 30 minutes or less.
• Everyone helps clean up because it’s just a good habit, like eating together!

Tasty Recipes To Make In Under 30 Minutes

Find more delightful recipes using apples in your DinnerTime Recipe Box.

You can search for an ingredient (e.g. eggplant, etc) the name or part of the name of a recipe (lasagna), a cuisine (Italian), type of dish (e.g. soup), an occasion (Thanksgiving, breakfast, tailgating, etc).