Making Family Mealtime Happen

When a client comes to me and says the words, “I want to learn how to eat healthy,” I always have questions about what is preventing them from doing so. Many times, parents who are busy with young kids say things like:

“ I have no time to make dinner”

“Cooking healthy food takes too long”

“My kids don’t like anything I give them anyway”

“I don’t even know how to plan a healthy meal”

Those of us with kids who have CF have another level of responsibilities even greater than the average parent, like having to help with breathing treatments, meds, or going for doctor visits, for example.

As it turns out, though, family mealtime is really important. A meta-analysis from 2018 found a significant relationship between frequent family meals and better nutritional health regardless of the child’s age, country, socioeconomic group or

Family meals have been proven to help children in several important ways:

• They encourage attachment - when children participate in family meals in a positive environment, they feel more supported, secure, and safe

• They promote good behavior - mealtime is an opportunityto teach manners, promote communication, and prevent behavioral problems

• They encourage reciprocity - conversation during mealtime teaches children to talk and listen and promotes connection

• They promote adjustment - children who eat with their families often have better social skills, which may be a result of feeling secure with their families or the everyday conversation around mealtime

• They establish confidence - family meals give children autonomy to choose what and how much to eat of the food provided, which may promote trust between children andparents

• They help with good grades - studies have found an association between family meals and better grades in school,which may be a result of feeling supported and connected within the family

• They encourage healthy development - family meals that are well-balanced and positive may contribute to health and normal growth in children

• They support the development of manners - frequently sitting at the table for meals allows ample opportunity for children to learn good manners

• They are transferable - family meals can take place at any meal or snack, even if only one parent is available

• They help your child develop a good relationship with food - a trusting, pressure-free environment at family meals can lead to a positive relationship with food and eating

Even two or three family meals a week is better than none. But how to make it happen? Here are some tips:

• Learn the components of a healthy meal. Ideally, this looks like a plate that is 75% plants (veggies, fruits, whole grains) and 25% protein (animal or plant-based), a little high-quality fat on the side in moderation, and lots of water

• Make a plan. In other words, over the weekend, look at your family commmitments for the upcoming week identify a couple of blocks of time in which you can plan, shop and do some prep. For many people, this is on a Sunday.

• Start with dinners. Gather 3 recipes that are easy to prepare and include ingredients your family typically likes. You can prepare enough at each meal to leave leftovers for the following day. Cooking once and eating twice is a big time saver

• Aim to include 4 or 5 food groups in your main meals (protein, grains, veggies, fruit, fat and dairy). For snacks, include 2 or 3 food groups.

• Try “theme nights.” Divide the week into theme nights and get your kids to help you plan. How about Crockpot Night, Baked Potato Bar Night, Taco Night, Build Your Own Bowl Night, Soup and Sandwich Night are some examples. Keep the themes every week to make it easy and just vary the components.

• Try “batch cooking.” Once or twice a month, cook double or triple the amount you will be serving and freeze the rest to use later in the month. That means you’ll cook from scratch less often. Most meals freeze well, except fried foods, things made with mayonnaise or cream sauce or lettuce.

• Choose whole foods when shopping. By that I don’t mean Whole Foods market, but whole, “real” foods like grains, fresh or frozen veggies, fruits and lean proteins as opposed to packaged and processed foods with long lists of ingredients

• Do as much “prep” in advance as you can. For example, roast a tray of veggies for the week, wash greens and store in containers made to preserve freshness, or do some chopping of onion or other ingredients you will need for the week

• Finally, always have a “default meal.” Some nights, in spite of our planning, the planned meal just doesn’t work out. Don’t default to fast food, but keep on hand ingredients to make veggie quesadillas, spaghetti with a jar of tomato sauce (read labels for wholesome ingredients and no added sugars), or frozen rice with canned beans, salsa and avocado.

Next time, we will talk about how to feed your picky eaters whether they are your CF family members or not.

Stay tuned for that discussion and a recipe!