why are family meals important?
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Family meals can promote healthy attitudes towards food and eating when they occur in a positive and relaxed environment. They also allow opportunities to discuss personal difficulties, provide parental support, and family bonding time. Family meal times allow parents to set a good example for their child by displaying healthy eating behaviours and positive attitudes towards food. It’s also a time when parents can monitor what their child is eating and introduce new foods in a supportive environment. For these reasons, regular family meals are more likely to encourage children to eat nutritious foods and can reduce a child’s risk of becoming overweight or engaging in unhealthy eating behaviours, such as dieting or over-eating.
It can be tricky to eat as a whole family every day, particularly with young children who may need to eat early. This is likely to get easier as children get older. In the meantime, try to find ways to make family meals possible. For example, you may set aside at least one day a week for a family dinner. The more frequently you can share family meals the better this will be for the development of your child’s healthy eating patterns and help to protect against the development of disordered eating. |
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Tips for parents
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• Serve regular, nutritious family meals.
• If there are obstacles to having family meals, encourage the family to work together to overcome these.
• Attempt to make meal times pleasant by focusing on conversation and connecting with your child rather than on what or how
much your child is eating.
• Try to remain calm even when meal times may be chaotic, messy, and noisy.
• Create a non-distracting eating environment for your child by having family meals with the TV, phones, and electronic devices
turned off.
• Create meal time traditions (e.g., Sunday roast), and continue these traditions as your child grows, to create positive
memories with food and meals.
• Set an example for your child by eating regular meals and never skipping meals.
• Encourage your child to eat regularly by trying to provide 3 nutritious meals and 2 healthy snacks a day.
• Discourage your child from additional nibbling during the day as they are less likely to feel hungry at meal times and more
likely to eat less nutritious foods.
• Encourage the family to work together to make family meal times a positive experience. For example, involve your child in
food preparation, perhaps by designing and cooking a simple menu for the evening meal. You may also want to occasionally
try eating in a different setting (e.g., a picnic in the backyard).
• If there are obstacles to having family meals, encourage the family to work together to overcome these.
• Attempt to make meal times pleasant by focusing on conversation and connecting with your child rather than on what or how
much your child is eating.
• Try to remain calm even when meal times may be chaotic, messy, and noisy.
• Create a non-distracting eating environment for your child by having family meals with the TV, phones, and electronic devices
turned off.
• Create meal time traditions (e.g., Sunday roast), and continue these traditions as your child grows, to create positive
memories with food and meals.
• Set an example for your child by eating regular meals and never skipping meals.
• Encourage your child to eat regularly by trying to provide 3 nutritious meals and 2 healthy snacks a day.
• Discourage your child from additional nibbling during the day as they are less likely to feel hungry at meal times and more
likely to eat less nutritious foods.
• Encourage the family to work together to make family meal times a positive experience. For example, involve your child in
food preparation, perhaps by designing and cooking a simple menu for the evening meal. You may also want to occasionally
try eating in a different setting (e.g., a picnic in the backyard).