A Seat At The Table
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A Seat At The Table

Sitting down for pie this thanksgiving could be healthier than you think

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A Seat At The Table
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Thanksgiving—every food lover's favorite holiday—is just around the corner and with it comes the stress of prepping the turkey, making sure the mashed potatoes are neither too lumpy nor too smooth, and solidifying your fate by deciding whether or not to make the infamous green bean casserole. In addition to being a time to show what we are grateful for and enjoy a delicious meal, Thanksgiving is also a time to start a conversation with our families. After all, Thanksgiving is basically just one big family dinner that includes all the uncles, cousins, and uncles’ cousins that you didn’t know you had.

While you’re tucking into that can-shaped cranberry sauce you probably won’t be thinking about your health, but Thanksgiving really is a healthy opportunity, relatively speaking. Eating dinner with your family is one of the simplest ways to take care of your health—and it all starts by taking a seat at the table.

When was the last time—besides a holiday—that you sat down and had dinner with some, or all, of your family? Within the last few days? Within the last few weeks? Within the last month? Research shows that the more often you eat a sit-down meal with your family, the better. Eating dinner with your family doesn’t just help with the formation of relationships, it also helps improve mental health, reduces the risk of substance abuse, and increases the chance of sustaining a healthy diet.

In fact, according to an article in the Washington Post, one of the best things that parents can do for their kids is eat dinner with them on a regular basis. Eating a healthy meal in an atmosphere of open dialogue and support leads to improvement in children’s vocabulary, test scores, mental health, as well as fruit, vegetable, and necessary vitamin and mineral intakes. “An atmosphere of open dialogue and support” is the key phrase in this sentence—family dinner means that the TV is off, phones are put away, and people aren’t just communicating via silverware morose code. Conversation is just as important as cuisine when sitting down to a meal with your family.

Eating dinner with your family isn’t just important and worth your time because of all that science behind it either—it’s about being part of a family. As humans, we’re relational creatures—we function best in a community when we are able to share our experiences with others and grow through communicating. Being part of a family means having a dialogue with people that you care for and are invested in. It means being asked, “So, how was work/school today?” and responding with more than just, “Fine.”

We shouldn’t let Thanksgiving be the only time we come together as a family and share a meal. That doesn’t mean we need to go out of our way and make stress for ourselves planning big family dinners every month; it just means that we need to spend more time having intentional sit-down meals with our families—whoever our “families” may be: parents and siblings, other blood relatives, close friends, roommates, college classmates, coworkers, etc.

This holiday season, make an effort to be present at your family dinners instead of hiding until you hear someone say it's time for dessert--your health will thank you.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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