The importance of Family meals

Driving to work this morning, I was listening to CBC  Radio and an interesting interview came on:
The interview was with Laurie David.  She was discussing her new book; The Family Dinner: Great Ways to Connect with Your Kids, One Meal at a Time.  She explained that family meals lead to children with higher levels of self esteem, lower obesity rates and less alcohol and drug abuse.

Not being a parent and never being overweight I hadn't put much thought into the positive effects of family meals.  This topic got me thinking back to childhood and meal time.  As a child most of our dinners were spent together as a family and this was a priority to my Mom.  I didn't understand the importance as a child.  But as an adult this is starting to make total sense and family meal time is a habit that I continue as a healthy adult.  Thanks Mom. :) 

As the interview continued the interviewer played some interesting public service announcements from the 1950's describing the perfect family meal time; and it kinda went like this:
"Mother and daughter are changing into their evening attire.  It is important for the girls to look refreshed and tidy for Father's arrival.  Billy is responsible for taking care of Junior.....Once father arrives, He serves Mother and daughter first, then Billy and Junior"

Listening to this announcement made me laugh....But it also made me think of how our Family lives have changed.  I believe the respect and  planning for meal time portrayed in the public service announcement is more important now than it was then.

Forward to 2010 and what type of Public service announcements do we have?

This one comes courtesy of:  School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USADivision of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
"More than 30% of children and youth aged 9–19 years are overweight or obese, and rates continue to increase. Parents play a critical role in the development of children's eating habits and weight-related behaviors through exposure, availability, and accessibility of foods in the home . The family meal setting has the potential to substantially impact the dietary intake of children and may provide an important avenue for obesity prevention. However, opportunities for families to have meals together have been negatively affected by changes in our society, and data suggest that the frequency of family meals may be declining."

We need help!!


And that is where Fitness Town and the 21 day challenge is here to kick start the Family Meal habit. Fitness Town 21 day family fitness challenge includes a Fitness journal that has great quick and healthy meal ideas.  This challenge is focused on providing useful information and family team work working together in an effort to fight obesity and to achieve health and wellness.

I believe that creating a habit of sitting down to eat meals will make a huge positive impact on family's weather you are a family of six, four, two or even a small family like myself: Husband, Wife and  a cat.