This week Guy’s & St Thomas’s Charity and the Bite Back 2030 Healthy Eating Charity released the findings of their recent research into the impact of lockdown on family meals.
They surveyed one thousand 14-19 year olds who reported a rise in the number of families cooking and eating together. Sixty percent of them think this has had a positive impact on their mental health and wellbeing and want it to continue when lockdown ends.
Hurray a positive news story at last!
Working in therapy with teenagers, loneliness is a theme which often crops up, but up until a few years ago, they would usually be talking about feeling lonely at school. Now, more and more report feeling lonely at home and this seems to cause them more distress than feeling lonely at school.
Family life has got busier, parents work harder, convenience food is, well, more convenient, watching TV whilst eating is considered normal and people forage and snack on the run rather than sitting and eating. The family meal has become the casualty of modern life and it is a real shame.
Numerous studies have shown that preparing food and eating together as a family has a positive impact on both mental and physical health. It…
Here are a few tips for successful mealtimes:-
Have I managed to convince you that eating together as a family is beneficial on many levels? I do hope so, and if you are one of the families who has taken it up during lockdown perhaps this will persuade you to keep going long after it ends.
Bon appetit! Alicia
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