We all know that the days of sitting down as a family around the dinner table, little Johnny and Jane dutifull eating all their peas, disappeared in the last century — that is, if that idea was ever the norm to begin with. And though we are told by the experts that a family dinner ritual kindles communciation, decreases risk of obesity and discourages eating disorders, that doesn’t exactly make it wasy to whip up Turkey a la King or Meatloaf when both parents work outside the home and kids balance hectic extracurricular schedules.

Thankfully, I have news of a survey that can alleviate some of our guilt.

Sitting down to dinner as a family? Important.

Watching television at the same time? So what?

Eating as a family is key,
even in front of the TV

“Families who watched TV at dinner ate just about as healthfully as families who dined without it. The biggest factor was whether the family was eating the meal together.”

The study found that eating together fostered “family connectedness,” which has been shown to influence kids to eat healthier foods, get better grades and a have lower risk for smoking, drug and/or alcohol use.

Just watch what you watch while you eat: If it’s too entertaining, you may just eat too much .

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