Importance of Family Meals in Childhood - Book Report/Review Example

Importance of family meals in childhood Family meals just as the name suggests, family meals refer to a culture of families sharing meals. Dinner is always among the most common meals that families should make time for and share together. In her book, The magic of the family meal, Nancy Gibbs discusses the importance of families sharing meals especially in the development of children. Children require dedicated attention and supervision from their parents. Family meals provide families with appropriate ways of interacting thus an opportunity for parents to monitor changes in their children thereby giving appropriate guidance to the children through childhood. Meal times provide children with appropriate opportunity to interact with their parents. In analyzing the importance of family meals, the author of the book claims that children who share meals with their families are happier, healthier and make better students who do not share meals with their families as the discussion below portrays. Preparing meals and eating together is a culture that Nancy Gibbs encourages in her book. The two are some of the basic activities that a family takes part in holistically. This contributes to the development of cohesive families. Sharing meals is both a tradition and a culture that the author encourages many American families to revive given the numerous scientific researches that continue to show the various advantages the culture presents. The author compares family meals to worship times since the entire family interacts and shares both problems and solutions “this is where the tribe comes to transmit wisdom, embed expectations, confess, conspire, forgive, repair” Gibbs 209). Such are important activities that contribute to the cultivation of cultural values in children as parents monitor and influence the changes in their children. Key among the advantages of sharing meals such as dinners is the fact that such shared meals help in civilizing the children in the family. Civilization is an abstract feature that refers to the behaviors and the values that children share. Shared meals provide parents with a perfect opportunity to engage their children in discussions. Through such discussions coupled with the eating patterns of the children, parents make vita observations that help in the upbringing of the children. The discussions at dinners, for example, portray the level of maturity in a child (Walker 224). A parent observes the nature of the language a child uses in such discussion and the ability of the child to maintain effective discussions. From such observations, a parent rectifies the behavior depending on the nature of the undesirable behavior. As Gibbs explains, family dinners contribute to the development of better students. The fact that parents take part in correcting their children enhances the development of better students who portray enthusiasm and eagerness to learn. Meals consumption trends are equally important in the development of children and parents should monitor the changes in the trends thereby act accordingly. The consumption trends among children changes based on their ages and social interactions. Adolescent girls, for example, are likely to begin eating less as they mature given the allure to lose weight and appeal to their peers. Such is a challenging time that may often cause numerous health complications. Additionally, a sharp change in the consumption pattern of a child is among the surest ways of establishing the physical wellbeing of a child. Diseases often influence the change in the consumption patterns. This implies that parents who share meals with their children understand the health and psychological wellbeing of their children thereby acting appropriately reverse the situations in cases where they can. A bullied child for example may change his meal consumption patterns. By observing such a parent indulges his or her child thereby making appropriate decisions to protect the child from bullies at school since such are likely to affect the performance of the child at school. Healthful eating habits often begin early and require the influence and observation of the parents. Healthful eating habits are those that encourage the holistic development of the health of an individual. This includes the consumption of balanced meals that promise to enhance the immunity and development of the body. Sharing such important meals as family dinners offers effective opportunities for parents to develop a culture of sharing healthful meals. Sharing meals would begin with the entire family taking part in the preparation of the meal. As such, the mother explains the nutritious value of the various meals. Through such sessions, a mother influences the children to like such foods as vegetables, fruits and cereals among many others that offer high nutritious value. Through such explanations and the bond that develops between parents and their children, the children learn the importance of eating healthful meals. Such values remain with the children even as they grow past adolescence and into adults (Weinstein 87). Researchers show that most children spend most of their time watching television. In fact, televisions constitute an important feature during meal times with most families watching televisions as they eat. Gibbs explains that sharing such family meals as dinner is a culture. As such, sharing family meals provide an effective and less painful way of eliminating such distractors as the television that are major distractors to peaceful and holistic ways of sharing meals. Watching television during meal times reduces the intimacy that a family should enjoy during such times (Preedy, Ronald and Colin 121). As explained earlier, families interact during meal times with the parents making significant observations about their children and the stability of the families. Televisions cause distractions to such processes. Given the above negative effects of watching televisions during meal times, families must, therefore, devise ways of overcoming such thereby creating appropriate eating cultures. Family dinners are some of the ways of creating a unique eating culture. A family can begin switching off their televisions during meal times especially when the children are young. As such, the children grow up appreciating the absence of televisions during mealtimes. Despite the numerous advantages of families sharing meals, Gibbs alongside numerous other researchers makes significant observations that they claim influence the cultures. The author argues that families with educated parents are less likely to share meals. Such is an irony given the fact that such parents understand the importance of the sharing meals. Uneducated parents or those with less than high school diplomas are more likely to share meals with their children than parents with college degrees or higher levels of education are (Gibbs 211). Such statistics arises from the fact that educated parents are busy and spend most of their time at work thereby leaving their children with the house helps. Given the above advantages of sharing family meals, families must devise ways of adopting the culture of sharing meals. Key among such strategies is keeping meals simples. Simple foods in this context refer to those that are easy to make. Making meals in time is essential since young children are likely to fall asleep early before the meals. Additionally, families must make extra meals. Making extra meals is essential in encouraging the culture of sharing meals since the family can share the left overs the following night. Additionally, the children keep their most favorable meals for the following day a feature that makes them look forward to the next meals. As explained earlier, switching off the television and making the conversations simple and fun are effective in making family meals enjoyable and fun for every family member (Archambeault 76). This way, both the parents and the children look forward to the meals a feature that enhances the creation of effective meal sharing cultures. In conclusion, sharing family dinners is a fundamental tradition that enhances the development of the children in the family. Sharing dinners provide parents with an opportunity to study their children thereby taking part in their development. Gibbs explains, rightly so, those children who share meals with their parents are happier and healthier than those who do not. Sharing meals provide parents with an opportunity to encourage their children to take healthy meals. Additionally, the parents engage their children thereby reassuring them of the love a feature that contributes to their happiness. However, the statistics of the patters are scary given the fact that educated parents are less likely to share meals with their children. As such, parents should encourage the development of meal sharing cultures in their families in order to enhance the development of cohesive families. Works cited Archambeault, Carol. The Shared-Meal Revolution: How to Reclaim Balance and Connection in a Fragmented World through Sharing Meals with Family and Friends. New York: AuthorHouse, 2013. Print. Gibbs, Nancy. The magic of the family meal. New York: Routledge, 2009. Print. Preedy, Victor R, Ronald R. Watson, and Colin R. Martin. Handbook of Behavior, Food and Nutrition. New York: Springer, 2011. Internet resource. Weinstein, Miriam. The Surprising Power of Family Meals: How Eating Together Makes Us Smarter, Stronger, Healthier, and Happier. Hanover, N.H: Steerforth Press, 2005. Print. Walker, Alice. Childhood. New York: Poultry Press, 2014. Print. Read More