Family meal time: Tricky but worth it

Even though Theresa and Oscar Gomez work different schedules, meal time with their three daughters is still an important family ritual. Oscar works evenings, so he eats breakfast with the girls. Theresa eats dinner with them. Weekend meals together are a top priority.

Last year, the Burnsville family participated in Dakota County's Eat. Talk. Connect! (ETC), a community-wide initiative promoting the value of meal time and encouraging families to eat at least three meals together every week.

"Our schedule gets pretty busy, but so far it's containable so we can still have that time together on a fairly regular basis," Theresa said.

Conversation surrounding the importance of family meals is not new. In 2001, "Family Day -- A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children" was launched by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. The annual event takes place Monday as families across the country are encouraged to have dinner around the table together.

Even First Lady Michelle Obama has weighed in on the importance of her family's dinner hour. During a recent interview with Women's Health magazine, she said, "Dad's office is just downstairs and it's rare that we don't have dinner together. No matter what is going on, he sets aside that time."

Carving out the opportunity to connect over a meal is one of the goals behind ETC, according to Shannon Bailey, adolescent health coordinator for the Dakota County Public Health Department.

"It's not that parents don't care about spending that time with their children. The American lifestyle, with work, sports and other obligations, just makes it harder for families to have meals together," Bailey said.

"We've learned that some parents with very small children are just setting them up in their high chairs in front of the television during meals," Bailey said. "And when it comes to adolescents, there is still a big gap in terms of how and when they connect with their parents."

Making that connection can be critically important for teens. A study done by the Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse in 2007 revealed that frequent family meals -- more than three per week -- are associated with lower rates of illegal drug use, drinking and smoking in teens. For example, those who regularly ate dinner with their families fewer than three times per week were 3 1/2 times more likely to have abused prescription drugs.

School performance is also linked to family meals; those who ate meals with their families fewer than three times per week were twice as likely to be earning grades of C or below.

Regular family meals also offer a nutritional boost to children of all ages, said Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, a professor at the Epidemiology and Community School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota.

"Children and adolescents are more likely to eat healthier foods if they eat with their families than if they eat on their own," she said. "During their rapid periods of physical growth and development, a healthy dietary intake is particularly important." Family meals typically feature more fruits and vegetables, less fried foods and fewer soft drinks, she added.

"I'm going to have the girls take turns helping me from beginning to end with the meal," she said. "It's a good time to expand the duties."