The Importance of Family Meals

The Importance of Family Meals
by Veronica Bowman
Surprising reasons to have a family meal time

Americans are currently experiencing the "near extinction" of
a very important custom. This endangered custom is that of
family meal time. It seems there are negative repercussions
occurring as this tradition diminishes. There are many
benefits to gathering as a family around a table at home to
enjoy good food and meaningful conversation.

According to studies done by the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control, more than one third of American adults are obese.
Their statistics also indicate that childhood obesity has more
than tripled in the past thirty years. An increase in the
obesity rate is connected to the increased frequency of eating
unhealthy meals away from home, an increase in a sedentary
lifestyle, and the amount of exposure children have to
advertisements that encourage the consumption of foods and
drinks with high sugar content. Reviving "family dinner time"
would be a positive step toward establishing healthier eating
habits. When you prepare meals at home you can:

* control the quality of ingredients
* control the amount of sugar and salt that goes into each
dish you prepare
* maintain greater portion control

From a cost perspective, eating at home is more frugal than
eating at a chain restaurant or at a fast food location.
Dining at home enables you to prepare food in a healthier
manner. One of the most common excuses given for abandoning
family meal time at home is that eating out is faster. For
your health and for the health of your family, there are
things you can do to make preparing meals at home quick, easy,
and healthy.

* Set aside some time on the weekend to pre-cut vegetables for
future meals and for bag lunches.

* Prepare large quantities of food and freeze some for quick
and easy meals on days when you're experiencing a time crunch.

* Enlist the help of your spouse and children. Extra hands can
reduce the preparation time.

According to the National Restaurant Association, 49% of every
food dollar is spent in restaurants. Preparing meals at home
definitely qualifies as a more frugal way to feed your family.
One quick internet search will reveal an abundance of frugal
shopping tips to help you stay within a budget as you make
plans to revive the custom of having family meals at home.
There's also a wealth of healthy, budget-friendly recipes and
cooking tips available to help you with the transition from
drive-through to sit down meals. You can get the whole family
involved in this new adventure.

* Let each person claim a certain day as "their" day to choose
the menu. This may require some parental guidance.

* Once a week, introduce everyone to a new fruit or vegetable.

* Keep in mind that diversity is the key to keeping meals
interesting.

A budget bonus that comes with preparing meals at home is that
leftovers can be used to prepare bag lunches for the following
day. That will enable you to save the money you were spending
at fast food locations and assure that the whole family is
getting a healthy lunch.

The whole family can become more physically active if you grow
some of your own vegetables. Gardening is good exercise that
yields more than just edible rewards. It provides an
opportunity for everyone to get outdoors, enjoy the sunshine,
and get involved in some physical activity, all of which are
beneficial to everyone's health.

A report by Martha Marino and Sue Butkus of Washington State
University provides detailed information regarding the
benefits of family meals. Among the benefits mentioned are
improved communication with children, improvement in a child's
school performance and better nutrition. The report also notes
that children actually appreciated the dependability of family
meal time.

Maybe, due to the busyness of today's family, having breakfast
or dinner together every day is not a reasonable expectation.
However, the custom of eating together as a family is so
beneficial that striving to revive it is well worth the
effort. The financial benefits are certainly a bonus during a
time when many of us are pinching pennies and stretching
dollars.

Take the Next Step:
- Sometimes as a busy family, meals have to be eaten on the
run. Please visit <www.stretcher.com/menu/topic-g.htm#grocgo>
for healthy meal ideas on busy days.
- For information on freezer meals, please visit
<www.stretcher.com/menu/topic-g.htm#grocery-freezer>. As a
working parent, being able to pull a meal from the freezer is
always a welcomed experience.