An easy win for parents — 10 good reasons to turn the TV off
As a parent you are constantly bombarded with information about how to raise your children ‘properly’, what to feed them, what not to feed them. Some of the advice given seems completely unrealistic and unachievable. Read on for a simple(ish) solution to some of our many parenting woes…
Recent research shows that modern families do things a bit differently to when you and I were growing up — families are no longer eating together — and if they do, it’s likely to be in front of the TV.
A third of children are now eating their dinner in front of the TV — that’s a lot of kids (nearly 4 million).
The overwhelming evidence, from around the world, suggests that eating dinner with your children is one of THE most beneficial things you can do for them as a parent.
Besides the obvious learning of social skills and opportunities to catch up, there are numerous benefits to health, education, safety, behaviour, even outlook on life, which is related to families sitting and eating together at the dinner table.
So here are 10 good reasons to turn the TV off and sit down to dinner with your kids;
- They do better at school — Teenagers who eat family meals 5 to 7 times a week are twice as likely to get A’s in school.
- They learn more words — Children learn 1000 rare words at the dinner table compared to 143 from parents reading them story books.
- They eat better — Children who eat regular family dinners consume more fruit and vegetables, and less fried food and soft drinks.
- They behave better — Family time spent eating meals together is linked to fewer behavioural problems.
- They are healthier — Some studies have even suggested a connection with family dinners and reduced symptoms in conditions such as asthma.
- They are happier — Frequent family meals have been linked to lower depression scores in teenagers.
- They take fewer risks — Children who eat with their parents take fewer risks.
- They react better to bullies — Children who have experienced cyberbullying bounce back more readily if they have regular family dinners.
- They maintain a healthy weight — Children who watch TV during dinner are more likely to be overweight by the time they are aged 7–8.
- They are more optimistic — Children who eat regularly with their parents experience less stress, have a better mental well being and are more optimistic.
“Family mealtime is like a seatbelt for traveling the potholed road of childhood”
Anne Fishel, theconversation.com
So why are we not doing it?
I believe there are many different reasons why parents are not taking up this amazing piece of parenting advice.
Space — A lot of families don’t have a dining room table, end of.
Time — In today’s society, often with two working parents, there simply isn’t the time to sit down together as a family — parents are focused on the benefits of extra curricular activities, so kids spend their evenings at football, swimming, badminton, cubs etc.
Schedules — By the time parents are home from work, often it’s too late for the kids to eat, so parents and children eat separately.
Knowledge — People simply don’t realise the benefits of eating together, it’s seen as just one of those things that has changed since we were kids.
Families — We are no longer living in a world where every family has 2 parents and 2.4 children. There are 2 million lone parents in the UK, and by 2021, 50% of families in the UK will have just one child. This makes sitting round the table ‘as a family’ a different proposition.
What can we do about it?
I believe we can do a few things to help.
Talk about it — Talk about how good it is to do, not just to our kids but to other parents — share positive anecdotes. Become an advocate and help make family dinners ‘cool’ again.
Join in— You don’t have to have the whole family present in order for everyone to benefit from meal times together, join the kids for dinner, whether that’s one parent or two.
Turn it off — Even if you don’t have a dining room or dining table, simply turn the TV off while you are all eating.
Weekends — Take advantage of weekends when there is more opportunity for families to be together — one or two meals together a week is better than none.
Start early — Even with the busiest schedules, we all have to eat breakfast — this could be the opportunity for everyone to sit down together before they leave the house.
Be prepared — For families with one child, mealtimes can be a challenge, there’s more focus on the child, their behaviour and eating habits, which can be stressful. There are some great tools to help parents with ideas on how to engage the children in conversation and ask the right questions. Meal times can then become fun and not a chore. We’ll be talking specifically about this in a later blog, so watch this space…
The goal is to increase family meal times, even if it’s just one more family meal per week. I for one will be setting myself the challenge of eating EVERY SINGLE MEAL with my kids in one week. I will let you know how THAT goes.
It’s worth bearing in mind, that the dinner atmosphere is what matters here. Children won’t suddenly start to reap the benefits above just because you’ve sat down and eaten with them one night.
Parents need to be warm and engaged and in it for the long haul — it really is the best investment of your time as a parent.
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