By Dinah Torres Castro
The Family Health and Wellness program encourages families to help the AAFCS celebrate the first annual Family & Consumer Sciences Day – a national celebration that educates families about the importance of preparing healthy meals and “dining in” together.
“With the high rate of obesity in this country, especially among children, Family & Consumer Sciences Day calls attention to something simple families can do to be healthier – prepare and eat a nutritious meal together.”
The first annual Family & Consumer Sciences Day, launched by the American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences (AAFCS), has set a goal of 200,000 families preparing and eating a healthy meal together on December 3, 2014. December 3rd was chosen as Family & Consumer Sciences Day to honor AAFCS Founder Ellen Swallow Richards, first female graduate of MIT.
We know that eating meals together as a family can be beneficial in many ways:
- Better Nutrition – families that eat together have healthier dietary intake patterns, increased intake of fruits & vegetables, less fried foods and soda, less saturated fats and Trans fats, less glycemic load and higher fiber and macro-nutrients from food.
- Tradition – family meals help to preserve and pass along family culture, traditions and values.
- Communication – mealtimes are a great time to connect with your kids. Your children may be young now but this is the time to work on their communication skills. Give them the opportunity now to voice what they’re thinking about and feel confident doing so and you’ll help raise a teenager who is more likely to speak openly to their parents about what is going on in their lives. For more information on meal time conversations follow the link below on Table Talk: The New Family Dinner
- Education – when families eat together it’s a wonderful opportunity to teach our children anything from table manners, social skills, family values, a sense of community and basic cooking skills. Parents are a child’s first and best role models when it comes to mealtime practices and the quantities and types of food eaten.
- Economics – eating together will help you save money.
- Strong families – when families eat together they increase their ability to bond closer. Joining together to share a meal can make a difference!
Table Talk: The New Family Dinner
Conversation starters
For more information on Family & Consumer Sciences Day and “Dine In” for Healthy Families:
FCS Day
FCCLA at the Table
Family Meals and Cyberbullying
For simple recipes, click here
Dinah Castro is a Bilingual Family Well-Being Educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County’s Family Health and Wellness Program. She can be reached at 631-727-7850 ext. 351 or at dc258@cornell.edu.