Eat, Drink and Be Nourished

“Why more Families should Get Back To The Table”, Daily Post, Tuesday April 5th 2005

Jane Gallagher hears sound advice on why families need to get together around the dinner table

As Jamie Oliver leads his national crusade about school meals, health campaigners believe the real fight for children’s health is a battle much closer to home.

According to a new survey by parenting website, Raising Kids just a third of parents eat with their children every day and one family in five eats together just once a week.

Yet research by Harvard University reveals parents who eat regularly with their children promote healthier eating habits and have much greater control over food choices.

A view shared by Modi Mwatama, Public Health Nutritionist and Food and Health Programme Manager at Heart of Mersey.

From a dietary perspective, family mealtimes are certainly important. Children develop their food preferences from a very young age and what they eat during childhood will affect their chances of developing things like heart disease, diabetes and obesity later on in life.

It's essential to introduce healthy foods and dietary habits early and this is something Heart of Mersey is seeking to support as part of the Food and Health Strategy for Greater Merseyside.

Studies in older children and teenagers have shown that those who eat meals as a family tend to have better diets, they eat more fruit and vegetables and have lower saturated fat intakes.

This is not surprising because parents will often consume a different meal if eating separately from their children, adds Modi. There is a huge market of processed "children's foods" such as breaded chicken or fish-based shapes and ready-made pizzas which are quick and easy to prepare. Unfortunately these foods are usually high in fat, salt or sugar - the things we should all be eating less of.

Dr Patricia Spungin, parenting expert and founder of Raisingkids has set up, Back To The Table, a campaign to encourage families to eat together.

These days both parents and children have increasing demands on their time. At home, children spend more time alone with their TVs, computers and music systems. As a result, they spend less time in family activities. Eating together is often the only opportunity for the family to talk, share experiences, laugh and have ‘family time.’

But as my own diary reveals, modern family lifestyles with both parents working and children taking part in more healthy activities means it isn’t always easy to sit down together.

However, Life Coach, Amanda Alexander of www.coachingmums.com believes there are steps you can take to increase shared family mealtimes.

Sometimes it is difficult or impossible to have a family meal time when one parent may not get back until late, says Amanda.

If this is the case, don’t beat yourself up about it. Try to sit down with your kids whilst they are eating with a drink so you get a rest and catch up with them. Make a family “date night” once a week – maybe at the weekend – and make it into a special occasion for all of you. Enlist the views of each member of the family and ask them how you can all make it into something to really look forward to.

Dr Spungin is hoping more families will join her campaign later this year with National Back To The Table Week.

A sit-down meal is a great opportunity for children to learn many social skills, table manners and simply join in a conversation which improves their linguistic abilities. Children become more appreciative of food when eating is a social pleasure and not merely a way of warding off hunger.

Panel One

Gallagher Family Mealtimes Diary

Sunday

Most Sundays we sit down together to eat as an extended family. This usually includes my parents and sometimes my husband’s mum and sister. Our table can just about squeeze ten around but the more the merrier. Quite often one of my children’s pals will join us. The meals is almost always the same and simple. A roast chicken, with roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and three vegetables. Although I eat fish I don’t eat meat so I will usually have a Salmon Steak with the rest of the vegetables. Some times my sister-in-law will bring a sweet or usually I make a fruit sponge which we have with custard. The conversation is always lively and the children absolutely love this time together. Today my mother-in-law has brought her old photograph albums and we spend the evening looking at them and discovering fascinating new facts about out family.

Monday

We eat in shifts. Ben and Briony eat a meal at 5pm my mum has prepared. Today it is fish fingers and chips with beans followed by fruit. Sam and Joe eat together at 6.30pm, steak and chips after their activities. My husband and I sit down and eat our meal with baked potato and salad at 8pm.

Tuesday

Another manic day. Ben has gymnastics after school, which doesn’t finish until 5.15pm. My husband leaves at 6pm to take take Briony and Joe to Beavers and Cubs. Ben eats at 6pm and I eat with Sam at 7pm. My husband who is a Cub and Beaver leader eats when he gets home at 8.30pm. I have made Beef and Vegetable Casserole for everyone while I eat fish and salad.

Wednesday

My husband’s sister and sons are visiting so we head out to our local Italian restaurant with granny. The children are boisterous but fairly well behaved although this is a restaurant used to serving families and the food is served promptly. There are three generations of our extended family around the table and the atmosphere is great, just like I imagine Italian families dine every day.

Thursday

Swimming lessons straight after school. The children eat snacks of fruit and juice in the car. They return home at 5.30pm ravenous so a quick meal is called for. The three youngest eat beans on toast with grated cheese. I put baked potatoes in the oven for my husband and I and our 13-year-old, which we eat with salad around 8pm.

Friday

The children go to my parents for tea after school on Fridays and enjoy eating with grandma and granddad.This meal usually includes a starter of fresh fruit followed by fish, potatoes and vegetables.

Saturday

The children help me make their own pizza, which they eat around 5pm. My husband and I share Paella around 8.30pm. As we aren’t going out this on our own this week, our Saturday evening meal is our way of relaxing and the chance to enjoy a leisurely meal together.

Total family meals: Three

Panel Two

How to enjoy more family meals

Tips from www.backtothetable.co.uk

• Don’t set rigid, unachievable goals. If eating together everyday is almost impossible set a target of 3-4 meals per week.
• When time is of the essence, keep meals simple yet nutritious.
• Encourage the children to help prepare the meals, set the table and help with the dishes.
• Turn the TV off to ensure quality time for conversations and no distractions.
• Get family members involved at the table; share favourite parts of the day, discuss shared activities, plan the next day’s dinner.
• Have some guidelines, such as no fighting or teasing.
• Try not to control conversations and or suppress children’s opinions at the table.
• Be open to trying new foods and new ways of cooking. You can save time by cooking double the quantities of a favourite recipe, and then freeze it to enjoy another evening.
• Plan ahead to anticipate work, school and other activities that may affect the timing of meals.
• If you’re not used to eating together, it may be difficult at first, conversation may be slow. Persevere and it will undoubtedly get easier

Panel Three

How regular family mealtimes help your child

• Strengthen the family by providing opportunities for communications and building relationships.
  (Focus Group Report by Nancy Lee, Nutrition Education Network of Washington July 1996)
• Enable children to have longer conversations with parents, which can increase their linguistic abilities giving them an edge in the classroom.
  (‘Using ‘rare’ words at mealtime can enlarge children’s vocabulary’ by Carolyn Sanford)
• Are seen as a marker for other positive family attributes and play an important role in helping teens cope with the stresses of adolescence.
  (Suppers on! Adolescent adjustment and frequency of family mealtimes by Bowden and Zeisz 1997)
• Lead to better nutrition as you have more control over quality and quantity of the family’s food choices.
  (Harvard study pub. March 2000 Archives of Family Medicine)
• Enable children to adopt their parent’s attitudes to food and acceptable table manners.
  (Is Family Mealtime Important? by Leah Davies, www.kellybear.com)
• Foster family traditions and help shape and give meaning to cultural heritage
  (Family Mealtime by Elaine Bowen, West Virginia University Extension Service)