Family dinner: Evolving, good for kids

During years as kids grow, family dinner time tends to change, but it remains one of the fundamental building blocks of kids’ character and knowledge, experts say.

With young children, families might have to eat early, ignore some table manners, and endure the usual bouts of crying, mess and chaos, according to PlanningWithKids.com.
As the kids grow, dinner time has less chaos, but perhaps more sullen children as they reach teenage years.

Is it worth it?

Absolutely, says Harvard Medical School Professor Anne Fishel, co-founder of The Family Dinner Project.

For one thing, research published in New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development has found that dinner conversations are essential in building vocabulary, acquiring general knowledge and understanding culturally appropriate talk.

Researchers found that young children learned 1,000 rare words at the dinner table, compared to only 143 from stories read allowed. This helps children read earlier and more easily.

For school-age kids, regular mealtimes are a predictor of high achievement scores. Adolescents who ate family meals five to seven times a week, were twice as likely to get A’s in school, according to the Washington Post.

One study in Pediatric Psychology even found that family dinner rituals even acted as a protector for children with asthma.

For adolescents, a number of studies showed that regular dinners lowered high risk behaviors and mood problems.

The key is emphasizing interpersonal relationships with casual conversations, not scolding or yelling at each other.