You’d love to sit down with your whole family and eat healthy food together several times a week.
Unfortunately, it’s sometimes hard to co-ordinate everyone’s schedule. You have to get the kids to their hockey games, music lessons and/or part-time jobs. The adults in your household might work long hours.
You might also lose heart when you get everyone in the same place at the same time, because the contents of your fridge and kitchen cupboards are less than ideal.
It’s possible, however, for busy families to regularly gather at the dining table and eat good meals that are easy and quick to prepare. The key, our sources say, is to make family meals a priority and take the time to do some careful planning.
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Tips From a Nutrition Expert
Dr. Geoff Ball, Director of the Pediatric Centre for Weight and Health at the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton, recommends establishing a structure around mealtimes. “Kids thrive on structure,” he says.
As well, Dr. Ball says, parents need to identify the barriers they have to overcome. For example, they may need to find more opportunities to eat together and/or reduce the level of stress on these occasions. (Stress at mealtimes is one of the common factors contributing to obesity in children, Dr. Ball says.)
Dr. Ball suggests that parents do some thinking about what will work best for their family and then take small steps toward a goal.
“Having a dinner where families can connect is difficult to achieve,” Dr. Ball says, “but most people can find one or two opportunities a week if they make it a priority. They have to be ready for change.”
Dr. Ball says some families find it works best to have family dinners on weekends. There’s more time to prepare a healthy meal and to sit down and enjoy it when it’s served on these days.
He also thinks it’s a good idea to get the kids involved in the whole process: helping to set the table, doing some of the food preparation, helping to plan menus and buy groceries.
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This approach not only lightens the workload but also allows the children to help decide what to eat. “It should be fun,” Dr. Ball says.
The “behaviours of moms and dads” are another factor to think about, Dr. Ball says. In other words, parents need to think about how they can provide role models for healthy eating habits.
Tips From a Mom
Nadine Hermary, mother of two daughters aged seven and nine, spends a lot of time working with her husband in their family business, Trans Can Imports in Edmonton. Still, her goal is to have the family eat together five days a week.
“I plan two or three days in advance,” Nadine says, “and we try to restrict the girls’ activities to the weekends.”
Nadine also finds creative ways to adapt meals. For example, when Dad is working late, Nadine and the girls sometimes pack up their dinner and eat with him at the office. Or they all go to a local Asian restaurant that allows them to choose healthy ingredients and create their own dishes.
“I work hard at providing nutritious food for my family,” Nadine says. “It’s high on my priority list. I read health books. My daughters know what ‘organic’ means.” But, she hastens to add, food isn’t always a serious thing at their house. “We have pizza nights, too,” she says.
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Why Go to the Trouble?
Regular family meals improve children’s mental and physical health. Sitting down together to eat and talk about what is happening in our daily lives reduces stress and improves communication.
Frequent family dinners have also been linked to a lower risk of a long list of unhealthy behaviours in youth, including substance abuse, inappropriate sexual activity, depression/suicide, anti-social behaviour and school problems.
The chances of maintaining a balanced, healthy diet are also much improved when families eat at home most of the time. There’s also a link between family meals and healthy weights.
Plan now to bring your family back to the dinner table. The family dinner table is a great place to promote and maintain your children’s good health.
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Learn More
This list includes just a few of the many excellent online resources that offer suggestions and ideas for regular family meals.
The tips range from the simple (learning to use a slow cooker/crockpot and turning off the TV at mealtime) to the ambitious (spending a day, or a whole weekend, preparing and freezing make-ahead meals).
Managing Family Meals
A resource from Eat Right Ontario
The Famly Meal
Ideas for creating a teen friendly atmosphere from Canadian Living.
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