The main source of distraction for most families is the television. Many families have multiple TVs. Sometimes children have their own TVs in their bedrooms and there is a family one in the sitting room and perhaps a small one in the kitchen too.
This causes two potential difficulties for the family meal. Firstly it can be hard to gather everyone as they are happily ensconced in their comfort zones watching a programme. Secondly even if you can haul them from their TV it is likely that the kitchen TV is on in the background and that means that you or they will be keeping a watch with at least half your attention.
Researchers have shown that when we eat while we are distracted by the TV we eat up to 40% more calories than we need or than we would do if we were concentrated on our food. This occurs because our brains don’t pay attention to the signals from our stomachs that we are full and so we override our natural limits and take in too much food. Think, for example, of how much popcorn you can put away when you buy a big tub at the cinema.
Distracted eating then, can have a very negative health consequence and can lead to over-eating and, unless it is balanced by regular exercise, obesity. It also has a negative social consequence in as much as we won’t talk to each other if we are watching TV and so we miss out on that vital opportunity to connect and develop relationships during meals.
A further distraction at mealtimes is the ever present mobile phone. Indeed with the level of mobile phone saturation in the Irish market we know that there may be at least one mobile per family member ready to interrupt the meal.
Text messaging holds a particular attraction for us Irish, we have one of the highest SMS text messaging usages in Europe. There is a social expectation that has built up that if we receive a text we must respond. As a consequence many adults and almost all teenagers may be in the middle of one or more text conversations while supposedly enjoying a family meal.
Multi-media or smart phones can have the added distraction of the internet and music. Many people complain of having an addiction (of sorts) to the many apps and/or twitter updates on their phones.
If, therefore, we want to ensure that our mealtime conversation is limited to those actually present we must keep phones off, or at least on silent, and away from the table.
This can be achieved if it is part of the family routine and habit from when your children get their first phones. It must also be role-modelled consistently by parents or we will face the accusation of hypocrisy!
The key is to establish ground-rules for family mealtimes that are explicit about everyone’s attendance and uninterrupted participation in the meal. Let the rule be no TV, no phones, no MP3 players for the 15-30 minutes that we sit together.
Post a comment