Eating as a family

By MICHELLE INGLE, KOOTASCA Head Start

With the busy lives of families, many of us are eating on the run. The quick drive-thru window seems to get used a lot when children are involved in so many activities and both parents are working full time.
Not surprisingly, research shows that family dinners are healthier than grabbing whatever is available while you are running out the door. A family meal usually contains more vegetables, calcium, iron, and less salt and fat.
Dinnertime is also a great opportunity to connect with everyone in the family. It encourages sharing stories about what happened during the day and gives parents the opportunity to focus on their children instead of the many chores that need to be done around the house or at the office.
Encourage children to serve themselves. Have them pour their own milk, dish their own food, and practice passing it to the next person. These are important skills for children to learn. It helps them with fine motor skills and hand/eye coordination. Also have all children use eating utensils instead of fingers whenever age appropriate. Parents need to expect spills and messes, this is part of learning these skills.
Teaching children table manners is something that is usually lost if a family is not eating together. Learning how to ask for food to be passed, waiting until it gets to them, are not items a child is going to learn if they are eating on a tray in front of the television every night.
Turn the television off during meal time. Studies also show that when people eat while watching television they tend to over eat and not pay attention to what and how much they are eating.
While life is probably not going to slow down much, try to eat as a family at least once a week. The meals do not have to be fancy, the important thing is that the whole family is together.