10 Great Reasons to Eat Family Meals Together: Day 4

"According to the Journal of American Medicine, 43 percent of American families eat together every day. This is echoed by CBS research numbers. According to the "Where America Stands" CBS News Poll, 74 percent of viewers claim they eat together as a family all the time, with 78 percent of viewers claiming they eat together "most of the time" on weekends. However, what we are doing while we eat has changed. It used to be the family sat down a table with no distractions. Now, however, the television, e-mail, texting, and cell phones have started to invade out dinner tables with surprising results. According to the poll, 33 percent of viewers say the TV is always on during their dinner, with 27 percent saying it's on half the time, or sometimes. Five percent of viewers say that people at their family dinner table are texting, e-mailing or using their cell phones throughout the meal, with 10 percent answering that they are sometimes guilty of this."

If that made your stomach turn, here's data that might make your meal time well spent.

1.When families eat together, everyone tends to eat healthier
2. Children tend to eat more fruits and vegetables
3. Children in families who eat dinner together are less likely to be overweight
4. Children from families who eat meals together get better grades
5. When families eat together frequently, children have better language skills
6. Children of families who eat together report feeling happier
7. Teenagers are less likely to use drugs, smoke, and drink
8. Working moms are less stressed when they sit down to eat with their family
9. The more often teen girls had meals with their families, the less likely they were to have symptoms of depression and suicidal behaviors
10. Eating together gives family members the chance to communicate and build relationships
-  by power to change

How would you rate your family?  Do you eat together?  What kinds of things do you talk about at meals?  Do you have any traditions that you have at meal times?   Is your talk edifying, encouraging and connecting?  Or is it a time with television noise {thankfully, we don't have one}, telephone interruptions, and turmoil? 

Do you need some soul food?  Read this post by Ann, at A Holy Experience as she shares some thoughts on their meal time as a family.  You will definitely be well fed and blessed!  And may your future meal times as a family not only draw you closer to each other but to HIM, who is the Bread of Life.