My why
"For me, dinner time at the table with my family was one that involved eating my meal fast and being quiet. I often didn't feel like I had a voice or that I could speak about anything, let alone anything deep.
I often had lots of questions in my head that I wanted to ask, but it didn't seem like I would be listened to if I spoke up. I longed for a time of laughter and deep conversation with good food.
Now, as a dad with my own family, I really want things to be different for them. For us."
Neil Milton (Founder)
How could it be different?
I started asking some questions:
- Could the table be more than just where we eat food?
- Could the table be the place where we invite people into conversation, where we can be real and honest?
- Could we go beyond the noise or break through the silence that often inhabits table moments?
- Could it be safe to share what is going on inside of us? What would they think?
- Would we be ignored, laughed at, humiliated, or dismissed?
- Would we be accepted, listened to, and heard?
As I wrestled with these questions, I found the Family Dinner Project and their extensive research.
Take A Deep Dive
Over 20 years of research from our friends at the Family Dinner Project at Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.
Benefits of Children Having Dinner With Their Families
Physical Benefits
- Greater consumption of vital nutrients from fruits and vegetables
- Less soft drink consumption
- Lower rates of obesity
- Lower caloric intake associated with home cooking compared to takeaway foods
- Better cardiovascular health in teenagers
- Reduction of asthma symptoms
- Greater likelihood of eating healthier diets when on their own as young adults
- Greater likelihood of not being unheathy as young adults
Academic Benefits
- Better grades – the Centre on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) study found that adolescents who ate dinner with their families (3 to 5 times per week) were twice as likely to get A’s in school compared to classmates who rarely ate dinner with family
- Ability to have complex conversations
- Conversation at table is a greater vocabulary enhancer in preschoolers than reading aloud to them
- Higher reading scores in school-aged children