Eating at the table
Posted by kathryn in Easier eating
Nutritionists and dieticians often emphasise the importance of not eating dinner in front of the TV. I frequently encourage clients to switch off and have their dinner at the table, at least a few times a week.
Paula Goodyer has just posted about why this is important. Eating together and away from the goggle-box allows the whole family to talk to each other and connect. However, more than that, it’s all about food associations:
Just as going to the movies can be a cue for buying popcorn, turning on the TV can become the trigger that makes you eat. “You might not be hungry and it might not be a normal eating time, but you just automatically reach for food,” [Anthea Lee] says, adding that once children finish eating one snack, they may get another because they want something to do with their hands. “But the advantage of eating around a table is that once you leave the table, you’ve broken your link with food.”
If this doesn’t happen at all in your family, what about setting specific nights where you eat at the table? Make it one weekend meal and a couple of mid-week evenings and then expand from there.
06 June, 2007
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