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Focus
on Healthy Eating
Family Mealtimes: More
than just eating together
When something has to give, it's easy to understand
why the family meal may be one of the first things to fall by the
wayside. And yet, family meals are not only a time for strengthening
family ties and keeping track of your children's lives, they can
actually lead to better physical and mental health for your children!
Benefits of family
meals
A Harvard study published in the March 2000 issue of Archives
of Family Medicine shows that eating family dinners together
most or all days of the week is associated with eating more healthfully.
The study showed that families eating meals
together "every day" or "almost every day" generally consumed higher
amounts of important nutrients such as calcium, fiber, iron, vitamins
B 6 and B12 , C and E,
and consumed less overall fat, compared to families who "never"
or "only sometimes" eat meals together.
Another University of Minnesota study published
in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found
that children who ate family meals consumed more fruits, vegetables
and fewer snack foods than children who ate separately from their
families.
Children who frequently eat meals with their
families tend to do better in school as well. A 1994 Lou Harris-Reader's
Digest national poll of high school seniors showed higher scholastic
scores among students who frequently shared meals with their families.
And a survey of high-achieving teens showed that those who regularly
eat meals with their families tend to be happier with their present
life and their prospects for the future.
Children model your
behavior
When you cook and serve meals at home, you have more control over
the quality and quantity of your family's food choices. Kids tend
to mimic their parents' attitudes about foods.
Children won't perceive healthy eating as important
if it is not something that they see you doing. Eat and serve sensible
portion sizes. Be open to trying new foods and new ways of cooking
foods.
Family meals should be dynamic - an exchange
of ideas, conversation and feelings. Turn off the television, the
video games and the computer. Mealtime is a wonderful opportunity
to strengthen family ties and pass on family cultural traditions.
Encourage your kids to help prepare meals, set the table and help
with dishes.
Easy meals
You can keep meals simple, yet still nutritious and interesting,
by sticking to nutrition basics. Offer your kids a variety of great
tasting foods from the major food groups for any meal or snack.
When time is of the essence, keep meals simple.
It's easy to purchase a ready-made sauce or marinade and add it
to sautéed chicken, beef or shrimp for a tasty main course.
Cook on weekends and double a favorite recipe,
enjoying one meal now and freezing the other to enjoy some evening
when you're too tired to cook. Soups and casseroles are especially
good to freeze.
Take advantage of prepared, nutritious foods.
Purchase a freshly roasted chicken from the supermarket and round
out the meal with some brown rice and a green salad, and fresh fruit
or yogurt for dessert.
Easy recipes for families
Taco
Salad
Easy
Lasagna
Fiesta
Chicken Dinner
Marsala
Chicken and Rice
Zucchini
Spaghetti with Parmesan Cheese
Spinach
Ricotta Pizza
Mexican
Beef Skillet
No matter how simple the meal, take the time
to sit down and enjoy it with your family. Make mealtime a pleasant
experience, not a time for discipline or arguing about problems
at school or work. Time spent breaking bread with friends and family
will help your children form positive attitudes about food and eating
and create fond family memories that will last a lifetime.
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