Strenghten Families - Strong Evidence That Eating Together Will Strengthen Your Family

Is having regular family meals together that big a deal?

"Study after study finds that kids who eat dinner with their families regularly are better students, healthier people, and less likely to smoke, drink, or use drugs than those who don't. A University of Michigan study of children ages 3 through 12, for example, found that more meal time with the family was the single strongest predictor of better achievement scores and few behavioral problems" in school.

-(Family Matters Column, The WSJ, November 11, 2004, by Hillary Stout, page D5)

A Tool Kit created to promote family mealtime sums up these research findings:

When Adults, Children and Teenagers Eat Together

• Children do better in school.
• Children have fewer behavior problems.
• Teenagers are less apt to use alcohol or drugs.
• Children and teenagers say they like having time to talk to the adults in their lives.
• Communication between children and adults improves.
• Children understand their family's values and traditions.
• Traditions are created around food and meals.

(Nutrition Education Network of Washington and Washington State University http://nutrition.wsu.edu/eat/why.html)

Then why don't we do it?

Obstacles to having regular family meals together include time constraints, varied activities, and not knowing how to cook. Considering the benefits it's time to find a way.

The answer:

Everything but the Chef provides a simple service. Our mission is to increase the time families spend together in meaningful activities, especially eating together. Our service can increase your confidence in getting a simple, delicious meal on the table day after day, or simply give you ideas for meals that save you time in planning and preparation. Please visit our website EbtChef.com where we also suggest fun things families can do together — togetherness can be simple but is vitally important!

Strengthen Families - try Everything but the Chef today for FREE.