Family dinners have 'social and emotional benefits'
Date: 23/09/2009 / Category: School holidays and working parents
Children who eat with their parents not only perform better at school but display greater emotional and social development, a study has shown.
The new report, by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, is called The Importance of Family Dinners V.
Elizabeth Planet, CASA's vice-president and director of special projects said: "The magic of the family dinner comes not from the food on the plate but from who's at the table and what's happening there. The emotional and social benefits that come from family dinners are priceless."
She added that children who have frequent family dinners are more likely to get As and Bs in school and have excellent relationships with their parents.
Having dinner as a family is one of the easiest ways to create routine opportunities for "parental engagement and communication," which she claims are key in raising children.
According to Catherine Hanly, the editor of parental support and information website raisingkids.co.uk, parents should engage children in meal-times from an early age as the development skills learnt can help in later life.
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