… First, let’s sort out what’s important and what’s not. While nutrition is always important, it is not important that you cook a main dish, prepare a salad and offer a cooked vegetable. That you sit down together to eat is.

Eating at least one meal together five times a week is important for families. Why? There’s more that goes on at mealtime than ingesting food for the sake of sustenance.

Meals together provide a daily solidification of the family unit, where each person is recognized and validated.

There’s much more that’s fed at the table than hunger and thirst. Children learn social skills, the art of conversation and manners. It’s an opportunity for parents to pass along values as each child shares a little about his or her day. The children’s intellect grows as they bring up issues and situations and then parents offer their input and perspective.

Traditions, rituals and heritage become habitual and, therefore, embedded in each child’s experience. All of these contribute to building the child’s character.

Additionally, children learn — from watching or helping — basic cooking skills and nutritional information.

Studies suggest that children who eat with their families receive better grades and confide in their parents more than children who do not. There’s also a lower risk of substance abuse among children who eat meals with their parents. The TV, however, must be turned off.

Families also eat more nutritious foods when dining together — more fruits, vegetables and fiber, and less fried food, soda, saturated fats and trans-fatty acids.

What if tempers flare at the table, or the parents drink a bottle of wine each night during dinner? It’s important that mealtime not be a place for conflict, harsh discipline or over-imbibing…

Source: Seattle Times, United States
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/parenting/2004031372_faull24.html