Scientists have proven the benefit of family dinners

American scientists have concluded that lunches and dinners with family have a positive effect on the physical, mental and intellectual development of children, as well as on their health. This is confirmed by a number of studies conducted over the past 20 years.

Children and adolescents who dine and dine with their parents are less likely to be obese and consume less harmful foods, fried foods, sweets and soda.

Scientists have discovered that young children with great success replenish vocabulary due to communication at dinner than, for example, listening to fairy tales and stories before bedtime. So, children learn over a thousand rare words (words that are not included in 3000 of the most common words of any language) during family dinners, and only about 150 of such words while listening to parents reading books before bed. Children who have a rich vocabulary learn to read faster and generally have better learning abilities than others.

It turned out that older children and teenagers also benefit intellectually from family dinners. For children who ate with the 5-7 family once a week, the likelihood of getting an “A” grade (highest point) at school is twice as high as that of the average student.

Moreover, family dinners can reduce the risk of bad habits in the adolescent (smoking, addiction to alcohol and marijuana), as well as reduce the likelihood of depression and thoughts of suicide. This was confirmed by a study of five thousand schoolchildren conducted in Minnesota.

Even those who were bullied, including online, by their peers felt better when they had the opportunity to share their problems with their parents.

True, as the scientists note, the whole positive effect of family dinners goes to naught if the TV remains on during the meal and replaces live communication. Smartphones and other mobile devices also distract teenagers from talking to their parents and other family members.