Does Your Family Do Sunday Dinner? It Could Be Good For Your Health
I grew up in an Italian household so it might be surprising for you to hear that we didn't really participate in the 'Sunday Family Dinner' tradition that many of my fellow pasta-eating friends did. Sunday was a work day for my dad so he was rarely home on a Sunday evening - we were more of a big family Sunday breakfast type household (no complaints about a solid breakfast though).
Well, fast forward a decade or two and now, my immediate family all live within 30 minutes of one another and Sunday Family Dinners are becoming more of a thing, and this is good, because apparently it is good for our health - score!
NBS news reports that it doesn't matter what's on the menu, it is the gathering that means the most!
The benefits range from the cognitive ones (young kids having bigger vocabularies and older kids doing better in school) to the physical ones (better cardiovascular health, lower obesity rates and eating more vegetables and fruits) to psychological ones (lower rates of depression, anxiety, eating disorders, substance abuse and fewer behavioral problems in school)
If you are interested in hosting a family meal but not sure where to start, don't you worry, the NBC report has some tips on how to institute a Sunday dinner, or whatever meal you want to host, tradition.
So, let's put the sauce on and break out the good china, I mean, paper plates. Cheers!