Family Togetherness At Mealtime : Myth Or Reality?

Before, people used to leave their homes to communicate with friends through places such as the bar, café, or even going for a walk. Now, technology has made communication so much easier. With applications such as Skype, Facebook and iMessage, we are able to instantly message our friends without spending money, time or energy to commute. Overall, messaging applications have made communication easier, quicker, cheaper and more efficient – all four are demands of which most humans look for when performing tasks. However, there are times when technology usage is more than we should take. Television for example can easily prevent a family from communicating. With 24 hours of nonstop broadcasting news and entertainment, some families can sit through these programs for hours without saying a single word to each other. According to a survey conducted by the Mirror, the average parent spends only 34 minutes with their children a day (Maughan, 2015). Over 2,000 parents surveyed had admitted to being too tired or busy to spend time with their children. With 24 hours in a day, if the average human spends 8 hours a day sleeping (Bjarki, 2015), 7-12 hours a day working or going to school (Ferro, 2015), and 8.4 hours on media devices (Chang, 2015), communication among friends, family members and the outside world in general is expected to be at its concerning lowest. According to research by the telegraph, 65.8% of children under 10 years old own smartphones

There are two main elements that are used when measuring communication within families. The first one being conversation orientation, the degree to which families create a communication environment in which all family members are encouraged to participate in unrestrained interaction about a wide range of topics (Koerner & Fitzpatrick, 2002b). Families who

Mealtimes are important for our children and they are usually excited to eat. There is just something about coming to the table sitting with our friends, being able to pass the food, and choose how much food they want to take that makes mealtime exciting. When meals are served family style and the children and adults sit together to eat, children improve their social skills, build self-esteem and confidence, and learn table manners. Children improve their language skills by having conversations with

Adults in today’s society also can control children’s daily routines, for example when they get up, go to bed, have breakfast, etc. Whereas in historical times this wouldn’t have been an issue.

The best place to begin the discussion regarding the family meal and how it has changed is to discuss where the idea of dinner originated. A fairly new concept, dinner came about roughly 150 years ago. While many people consider family mealtime to be a “natural phenomenon; it is a social construction.” (Carroll, xvi) During colonial times the family functioned as one unit, with everyone in the family having a

The Potato Eaters and The Merry Family share the theme of family meals by depicting societal view of middle-class Americans versus low-class Americans and each one’s abilities to provide food for their family; while What ‘Modern Family’ Says About Modern Families depicts our increasingly busy society, family mealtimes are fading, and now it is time to call everyone back to the dinner

“The family meal. It is at “ the temporary democracy of the table” that children learn the art of conversation and acquire the habits of civility- sharing, listening, taking turns, navigating differences, arguing without offending-and

An example of commensality which the majority of people experience first happens within the household among immediate family. Sitting around one table at dinner time as a family became a societal norm during the 1800s. Since then everyday commensality among families has continued to be portrayed as an ideology, especially through the media (Lupton 1996). Such implication influences the attitudes of those in society. This is reflected in a study conducted in Scotland. Findings were that there was a general agreement in that a good meal was prepared by parents, served to children and eaten together around one table (Blaxter M & Paterson E 1983). Although family commensality may be enacted as an obligation to fulfil society’s expectations, its experiencers still have much to gain from it. The effects in which these gains have on a person’s life means that family commensality is a happening of great significance.

Nancy Gibbs the author of the essay “The Magic of the Family Meal” focuses on the subject of family dinners. She talks about the history of family dinners, the benefits that come from eating dinner as a family, the new way that families do family dinners and why families stopped having dinner together. In the eighth paragraph Gibbs talks about why families don’t do family dinners as much as they use to the main factor being time she continues to repeat this key idea throughout the paragraph. One way that she does this besides repeating this key idea in the paragraph is repetition of the word “time”. Which she expresses through her use of transitions. One example is how Gibbs uses repetition of the word time to emphasis that time is the cause

​The American family has certainly transformed over the past 20 years. Whether someone lives with two parents or one parent they are probably working full time jobs to provide for the family. In addition to their outside jobs they have the responsibility of raising the children, helping with homework, cleaning the house, and provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Due to the events of the day, temptation wins and the family gorges on Big Macs, french fries, and a sugary soft drink. Great, the family is fed, but what are the long term affects of the fast food when ingested several times a month. Planning nutritious meals in advance would promote a healthier lifestyle for the American family. Many Americans are defined as obese.

Effective communication is an important characteristic of strong, healthy families. Family communication is the way verbal and non-verbal information is exchanged between family members (Epstein et al.,1993). Communication involves the ability to pay attention to what others are thinking and feeling. In other words, an important part of

Technology has changed the relationships of families. Distracted by their laptops, TV’s, smartphones, and video games, families can’t have a friendly

Mealtime is the perfect time for families to get together, catch up and wind down. This time can be used to catch up with each other and learn new things about the people that we live with and love. Many families feel that there is not enough time in the day to cook and sit down together. In the article “ How Eating at Home Can Save Your Life” written by Mark Hyman, MD he states “Americans spend more time watching cooking on the Food Network, than actually preparing their own meals.” If families are saying there is not enough time to cook a meal and sit down and enjoy it together what does that say about their priorities? Meal time with our families need to become a priority

Discuss research that has investigated effects of parental feeding practices on the development of children 's eating behaviour

How often do you eat meals with your family? Only 53% of American families with kids eat together six to seven days a week. Many online sources such as The Atlantic state that “family dinners build relationships, and help kids do better in school” (Delistraty). There are many benefits of regularly eating together for at least one meal a day: Family members have the opportunity to talk to each other; children are more likely to be more well-rounded, eat healthier and have a positive self-esteem; children who eat regularly with their families are less likely to drink, smoke or use drugs. Families that do not eat together are leading their kids into a dangerous plight, by not showing them you care. When families sit for a meal together, it creates strong bonds between the family, as there is a reason to communicate and take the time to reflect on the day with the rest of your family.