According to Realage.com, a Web site sponsored by Oprah Winfrey, eating meals together as a family can be good for your emotional health. The site reports that “a recent study revealed that adolescents who frequently ate meals with family members were less likely to need mental health counseling compared to youths who rarely ate with family members.”

Why? I would guess that eating together is a natural way to strengthen family bonds. When parents make family meals a priority, they send a clear message that they care about their children and want to spend time with them. After all, it can be a lot of trouble to have an “organized supper,” as my children used to call it. And you do have to turn off the TV to do it right, which is unheard of in some households.

Family therapists have long encouraged parents to eat with their children on a regular basis and to develop and maintain other family rituals. Shared meals, birthdays, anniversaries, religious holidays and other special occasions are ways to take a stand for your own family values. These occasions give children a clear sense of what it means to be a part of your particular family and help them to develop their own identities as individuals who truly belong.

How often does your family sit down together for a meal? Have you noticed that good things happen when you do?

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Categories: *Horse Sense for Parents by Rob Baggett, All Articles, Hot Topics, Parents Panel
Tags: features