Family Meal Time: Why It Matters

November 6, 2020

We all live busy lives, now so more than ever. From work to school to family life, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the responsibilities that we take on. And because of this, certain things can all too easily be neglected, falling by the wayside. Eating together with your family, sitting down for family style meals, such as from a meal delivery service, can be one of those things.

But while it might not be feasible to have a family meal every single night, even just sitting down for a family dinner a few times a week could prove beneficial to every family member.

You model a healthy dynamic

When you eat together, Stanford Children’s Health says, you are able to set an example for a healthy family dynamic. By showing an equal division of labor in the process of cooking, serving, and cleaning up, you show your children how a family - or how a couple - works together. And by working together, you as parents can show the joy in handling these tasks and in sharing a meal together.

It gives you time to connect - free from electronics

Of course, the family table provides you with the perfect opportunity to foster conversation and communication. While rules and expectations will vary from family to family, many parents decide to forgo electronics at the dinner table altogether. For while our smart phones and other devices have made our lives easier in many ways (as anyone who has ever relied on Google maps can attest to), they can hamper communication if left unchecked. Of course, the onus is not totally on smart phones - other distractions like newspapers, books, and the TV - might also be detrimental to dinnertime conversation.

It’s worth getting rid of these distractions, at least for the duration of your family meals. The conversation you have during family meals might be the longest period of time that you have to connect as a family all throughout the day. Spending this family meal time together is your chance to talk about things big and small, from the everyday going ons to the larger stressors in your lives. However, experts from the aforementioned Stanford Children’s Health department recommend steering clear of topics that might embarrass your kids and cause them to clam up - unless they bring up the topic themselves, of course.

You can boost your child’s self-esteem

Simply taking the time to listen to your children is so crucial to boosting their self-esteem. By sharing family meals (such as family style meals from a meal delivery service) free from outside distractions, you are showing them that you value what they have to say. You value their experiences and you want to engage with them. And the payoff of such conversations, especially if they happen on a regular basis, is impressive. In addition to lowered rates of disordered behavior surrounding eating, says The Family Dinner Project, kids who eat dinner with their families also have lower rates of addiction and even teen pregnancy. Their risk of depression falls while overall rates of performance in school climb.

It’s not a one-size-fits-all thing - find what works for you

Of course, having the time to prepare a nutritious and satisfying dinner to share together is a whole other issue. Parents who work might struggle to rush home and get dinner on the table in a short span of time. In fact, this is only likely to add to their stress levels, not alleviate them. The people who work for Eat Purely understand that all too well. Many of us have families or partners at home, people we love and love to spend time with - but by the time we get home, there is little energy left to make a meal from scratch. A meal delivery service providing family style meals - and meals for kids - can make it easy to connect, free from any of the hassle of actually preparing a meal.

With our family style meals, all you have to do is put it in the oven. It’s like a TV dinner, except it tastes good and there’s not always a TV involved. From meals for kids to family meals, we’ve got you covered with a variety of entrees and family style meals and variety packs. And with multiple components to every meal, from an entree to a salad to a side and, of course, a dessert, we hope that there will be something for even the pickiest of eaters to enjoy. When you’re not worried about actually cooking the food, there will be even more time for the conversation and connection, fostering the bond you share with your family members, and the alleviation of stress after a long day.