As I write this, we are just finishing with the holiday season. Holidays typically mean extended time with family and friends, being able to slow down, take a break from work and sit around the table for shared meals more often than on busy workdays.
In daily life, where schedules are demanding, family dinners or meals with friends fall by the wayside. But amongst the long list of expectations that fall on parents’ shoulders, the centrality of the family meal as a ritual endures. Countless studies have always made inflated claims about the benefits of families eating together. These meals are described as leading to ‘better social and emotional health for all involved’, with a ’positive impact on family communication and functioning, the development of healthy eating patterns in children, and improved school performance … [or even] as a protective factor in reducing the risk for adolescent addiction’. Big claims indeed! (And I wonder whether these perceived benefits are the result of family meals themselves, or whether families that are fairly close to each other to begin with, tend to prioritise shared meals).