Psychological Effects of Eating/Cooking Together as a Family

The Family that Eats Together Stays Together 

Since I've started my 20% project, I have been thinking about certain aspects of cooking I could dive into and start researching. After reading comments left by my peers, I decided to delve into the psychological effects of eating and cooking together as a family. I know that my life would be different if I did not sit with my family at dinner every night, and I wanted to learn if there were any psychological benefits to this as well. On PsychologyToday.com I found an article "The Family that Eats Together, Stays Together," which taught me a lot. Research shows that families who share four or five meals together each week have kids who eat more fruits and vegetables, have healthier eating habits in general, and are at less risk for obesity. Before reading this article, I never realized how much eating as a family can effect healthy eating habits as well as bonding as a family. The article also discussed how eating "on the run" increased the risk of childhood obesity and could develop poor eating habits. The article also goes on to say that eating "on the run" could also lead to eating disorders in the future, and that most people with bulimia hardly ever sat down at a table to enjoy a meal. An additional benefit to a sit down dinner with children is an opportunity to catch-up with kids and find out whats going on in their lives. The article recommends to ask children open ended questions so it does not seem like you are bantering them.

In continuing my research, I was to learn ways to let children know how important it is to eat as a family. I know when I was a child I just wanted to eat a quick dinner and go play, or eat in front of the television. Now that I am older and have read this article, I know now that eating as a family not only will help me in the long run with my eating habits, but also psychologically.