How To Encourage Your Family To Eat Together

Finding time to eat dinner together is easier said than done, but scientists offer us some unexpected insights into dinnertime strategies that work.

1. Serve vegetables for dinner.

Americans eat vegetables at only 23% of their meals, if French fries and ketchup are not counted as vegetables. Surprisingly, researchers have found, serving vegetables at home increases both the heroic (appreciation of the cook) and hedonic (appreciation of the food) appeal of eating for both children and adults.

Serving vegetables is associated with cooks who care, and vegetables make meat seem tastier. Children may not want to eat spinach and broccoli served by their mothers, but they will usually appreciate their mothers for serving them.

2. Do as many dinner-related tasks as possible before dinnertime.

Even if the food is delicious, the table settings are attractive, and the dining room is clean and comfortable, if the cook is frenzied, the family will be, too. The cook for the nighttime meal, whether female or male, parent or child, sets the tone for dinner gathering. It is hard for the family to relax if the cook is uptight.

One way to take pressure off the need to prepare dinner quickly is to do as many tasks as possible ahead of time. Wash, dry, peel, and cut vegetables in batches once or twice a week. Put marinades on meat the night before. Cook roasts that can be turned into several different meals. If your family complains about your serving the same protein every night, take comfort in the fact that mealtime monotony results in restrained calorie consumption. Your children and partner will be inclined to take only enough food to satisfy their actual hunger rather than stuffing themselves with excess calories.

3. Don't serve just what everyone wants, or what the most powerful member of the family wants.

Counterintuitively, families that are served a few foods that are "good for them" but not necessarily their favorites have greater appreciation for the cook - within limits.  Everyone at the table should be served at least one food he or she likes, but putting out at least one new food item or healthy food item expands the taste palate and increases attention on favorite food items. A cook who puts out a variety of dishes, some the family asks for and some they don't, in the long run is appreciated for caring about the family's health. Just be warned that the cook who serves only healthy food probably will not retain his or her position indefinitely.

4. If you can't achieve your desired quantity of family meals, set your sights on the quality of family meals.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have found that both the number of family meals per week and the quality of family meals, measured in terms of the amount of social interaction at the meal, make a difference in children's health, especially with regard to obesity. If you can't get your family together more than once or twice a week, make sure there is a lot of interaction at the dinner table when you can.

5. Control dinner conversation.

The dinner table is not the time for nagging, scolding, or complaining. Save negative comments and disciplinary measures for another time. Use the dinner table as place for making positive comments about what you appreciate in your spouse or partner and the children in your family. Reward good manners and good conduct with immediate praise.