Eating together can improve your overall health
January-February 2025
(photo courtesy Shutterstock)
story courtesy of Family Features
According to the U.S. Surgeon General, Americans face a lack of social connection that poses a significant risk to individual health and longevity. Loneliness and social isolation increase the risk for premature death by 26% and 29%, respectively, according to the Surgeon General’s report.
One way to address this epidemic of loneliness is by sharing a meal with friends and family. Here are five tips on how to achieve healthy habits that will pay dividends:
MEALS TOGETHER FOSTER TOGETHERNESS AND CONNECTEDNESS
Staying connected can be challenging when schedules conflict and life gets busy, but shared meals with friends, family, or, however you define your family, can be the glue that holds people together. Studies demonstrate a positive relationship between family meal frequency and measures of family functioning, which is defined as family connectedness, communication, expressiveness and problem-solving. The key is for family members to engage in conversation with one another during mealtimes and take advantage of the one-on-one time without distractions or interruptions from smartphones or other devices.
MEALS TOGETHER STRENGTHEN MENTAL HEALTH
An often-overlooked benefit of family meals is mental health support. Multiple studies show family meals have long been associated with improving mental health, including reducing symptoms of depression, decreasing violent behavior, and lessening thoughts of suicide among youth. Frequent family meals can help mitigate the risks of destructive behaviors by boosting prosocial behaviors and life satisfaction among adolescents.
MEALS TOGETHER IMPROVE NUTRITION
There is one easy way to help ensure your family is eating fruits and vegetables: a family meal. Research shows family meals improve fruit and vegetable consumption. It also pays to start this trend early, with research finding preschool-aged children who eat frequent family meals are more likely to eat more fruits and vegetables. Overall, research indicates families who eat together frequently have a better overall healthy diet and lower body mass index.
MEALS TOGETHER IMPROVE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
Helping students’ academic performance begins at the family dinner table. Eating more meals together as a family is associated with improved overall adolescent health, including higher grades. Multiple studies show that students whose families dine together frequently perform better academically in areas such as reading and vocabulary. Research also supports a correlation between frequent family meals and a reduction in risky and harmful behaviors, including drug and alcohol abuse, which may also contribute to better school performance.
MEALS TOGETHER TEACH CIVILITY
According to a study by the FMI Foundation, the family dinner table is a perfect place to teach younger generations how to communicate respectfully. Seventy-six percent of survey participants agreed that family meals are an excellent opportunity to have and teach respectful interactions, while 70% said frequent family meals create a safe environment for families to discuss thornier societal issues. Another 68% affirmed that sitting at a meal together tends to keep conversations more civil.
(graphic courtesy FMI Foundation)