The Importance of Eating as a Family: National Family Day

National Family Day is Monday Sept. 26, a day to eat dinner with your children. As a partner for Family Day and a leading nonprofit dedicated to promoting health and well-being in families and children, the Y wants you to participate!

Join us at the Y on Sunday Sept. 25, during Family Time, and have dinner as a family! From 5-6:30pm, Uno’s will be serving dinner at the Y. All families are welcome to attend, $10/per adult and $5/per child. Pre-registration is required for this event, please inquire at the front desk of the Lynch/van Otterloo YMCA or visit our website.

Eating a shared meal as a family has exponential benefits for your kids and the relationship you have with them. Family meals go a long way in teaching kids healthy habits and portion sizes from an early age, which will help them stay fit and healthy throughout their lives. Involve them in the cooking process and it gets even better – they learn some useful kitchen skills and are much more likely to eat things they helped to prepare. And a bonus - even more one-on-one time.

Eating together also provides much needed time for kids to talk to parents about their day and anything going on in their lives. Making dinner together a regular event in your home assures kids that they will have that one-on-one down time that is so necessary for keeping your relationship with them strong. No television, phones, internet – just conversation with Mom and Dad.

According to a Columbia University survey, teens having family dinners five or more times a week were 42 percent less likely to drink alcohol, 59 percent less likely to smoke cigarettes, and 66 percent less likely to try marijuana. The survey also found that frequent family dinners were associated with better school performance, with teens 40 percent more likely to get A's and B's.

As cited in an article from Times Magazine, the most probing study of family eating patterns was published last year by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University and reflects nearly a decade's worth of data gathering. The researchers found essentially that family dinner gets better with practice; the less often a family eats together, the worse the experience is likely to be, the less healthy the food and the more meager the talk. Among those who eat together three or fewer times a week, 45% say the TV is on during meals (as opposed to 37% of all households), and nearly one-third say there isn't much conversation. Such kids are also more than twice as likely as those who have frequent family meals to say there is a great deal of tension among family members, and they are much less likely to think their parents are proud of them.

So come down to the Y and share a meal with us on Sunday Sept 25 , and then honor Family Day on the 26th by starting or keeping up the tradition of shared meals in your home!

What will you learn about your kids at dinner?

Start the conversation, and help them to eat healthier, get better grades, and resist drugs and alcohol.