Eating Together Can Increase a Sense of Community in Families

Story by Lena Ogunfiditimi. Photo courtesy of Horizon Education Centers.

Do you have memories of eating together with your family? How did eating with your family improve your relationship with them? Engaging in conversation with your family while eating a meal can increase your social skills, bonding, and understanding with those around you.

In most families, people see eating together as an important tradition that brings everyone together, but did you know that eating with others can increase your social network and overall happiness? Research shows that eating with other people can increase satisfaction and community connection. In Alice Julier’s book, Eating Together, she argues that, “eating together as a family can change the perspective of inequality, while also altering the viewpoints of different races, gender, and economic background.” 

Australian studies from Litterbach, Campbell and Spence (2017), also show that family meals and dinner influence the behavior and diet choices of children and teens. “Mealtime frequency and family meals, which were reported as very important to these individuals, was analyzed and the findings were that out of 958 meal types, 77% of children shared a meal with at least one parent, on at least five evenings per week. The less frequent meal for parent-child interaction reported was snacks; 61% eating snacks with their parent less than five days per week.” Eating together with friends and family can be very beneficial for kids and adults around the world, and it should be practiced, as it nourishes and allows people to be content.

Overall, eating with other people enhances community connectedness, and increases overall social and mental health within families. Eating together can be satisfying for everyone, and should be practiced as much as possible, within the household and out in the community as well.

Lena Ogunfiditimi is an 8th grade scholar at Friendship Armstrong Middle School.