|
Healthy
meals come at the family table
March 27, 03
Suzanne Havala Hobbs
How
often does your family sit down together
for a home-cooked meal?
If
you're typical, not often.
If better health is a goal for you and
your family, sitting together at the
dinner table may help.
A study of 16,000 children published by
researchers this month found that those
who frequently ate meals with their
parents had healthier diets than those
who did so rarely.
Kids who ate with their parents were more
likely to eat at least five daily
servings of fruits and vegetables. They
ate less saturated and trans fat and
fewer fried foods and soft drinks. They
also had diets higher in calcium, fiber,
folic acid, iron, and vitamins B and E.
These findings jibe with previous studies
that have linked family meals with lower
intakes of fatty foods, snack foods, and
soft drinks in kids' diets.
But the trend is for children to eat
progressively fewer meals with their
families as they age, and the number of
those who do eat meals together has also
been dwindling.
It's not that children don't like to eat
dinner with their parents.
A study published in this month's Journal
of the American Dietetic Association
reported that 74 percent of school-aged
children said they enjoy eating meals
with their families. More than half,
though, said that hectic schedules filled
with work, school, and extracurricular
activities stood in the way.
Therein lies the first challenge: Given
the realities of today's lifestyles, how
do you carve out time for family meals?
• Make family meals a priority.
Schedule a time for dinner and stick to
it. Choose extracurricular activities
that accommodate this schedule.
• Plan ahead. Prepare meals ahead of
time if your schedule often leaves little
time once you get home. Fix a salad the
night before – add the croutons
before serving. Cook a pot of chili or
prepare a casserole on Sunday night and
reheat or cook it the next day.
• Recruit help. Everyone can pitch
in. Kids can shuck corn and set the
table. They can clear the table and do
the dishes, too.
• When harried, keep it simple. A
bowl of lentil soup, a fresh green salad,
and good bread make for a nutritious,
quick meal. Slice some fresh fruit for
dessert.
It's important to create a nice
environment for meals. Remove the clutter
from the kitchen table, and spread a
clean tablecloth. Turn off the TV, and
put on some gentle music. Take some care
in setting the table.
Everyone will notice, and it doesn't take
much extra time.
That said, here are some other ways to
increase the likelihood that your family
– especially your children –
will eat well:
• Get them involved. Kids that have
a hand in planning and preparing meals
are more likely to eat the food. Take
them shopping and let them pick out
fruits and vegetables. Grow some in a
backyard garden or in containers if you
live in an apartment.
• Maximize color. We've talked about
this before. Red tomatoes with yellow
polenta and black beans and a fresh green
salad are infinitely more appetizing than
macaroni and cheese with corn and white
rolls.
• Pay attention to presentation.
Serve foods in bowls and on platters, not
in their cooking pots. Add a garnish here
and there. Our kids love the treat of
having candles on the table.
Make family mealtime a loving ritual. The
legacy for your children will be not only
happy memories but healthier eating
habits, too.
|
