Eating Family Dinners Improves a Child Academically & Nutrtionally

Families should eat dinner together because this is what happy families do. As I was growing up my family ate dinner together all the time. It was okay for me to think that everyone else did the same thing because it is what I didn't every day. But this is not the case for most families. Families sometimes eat dinner 2-4 times a week now. Most parents know that when children get older they start to stray away from eating dinner with their family, and they also stray away from their family. A lot of people say that families that eat dinner together can gain a lot in a variety of different ways. When families eat dinner together they gain better communication skills, build strong relationships and they also benefit with their nutrition.

Nutrition

Families that eat dinner together eat a lot of fruits, vegetables and other healthier foods. Children that eat with their families eat less fatty foods and maintain a good diet. Some parents think that it's a good idea to make their child eat everything on their plate because that's now what we want to do. This type of thing can sometimes cause children to have eating disorders and that is not what we want to promote as parents. Make time to eat together. Although families are hectic sometimes make time for dinner because it is really important. If you don't have time to cook, try harder and make something work (don't use work as an excuse). If you claim you don't know how to cook. It would be a great opportunity to start trying and stop being lazy. The number one thing that I have to stress is to turn of the television what you are eating dinner (hint: it decreases family communication). Make some rules like not answering the phone during dinner, cell phones off and no television.

Academic Performance

School performance increases with family dinners. Students who ate dinner with their families 3 or more times a week scored better than those who ate with their families less than 3 times per week. Meal times are positive for an adolescence. It allows time for a parent to see what kind of stress their kid is under, if any and try to help. Dinner is good because it also allows a child to listen to how regular language is spoken. This increases their vocabulary and this is just what kids need to improve their own spoken language

These are the reasons why your family should eat dinner together. I hope that you take some of this as good advice to help improve your child(rens) lifestyle.