If eating dinner together as a family is a thing of the past in your household, you're not alone. It seems now more than ever sitting down to a family meal has taken a backseat to busy work schedules, overtime, and after school activities.

Yet, research shows that the benefits of eating family meals together offer a myriad of health and social benefits to you and your children.

Benefits to your kids

According to a survey conducted by Harvard Medical School – frequent family sit down meals not only equal happier children but also a higher and better nutritional intake for your children. With children who eat with their families eating more fruits and vegetables and less saturated fat, than those who ate alone.

Given the link to healthier eating habits, it's not surprising that children who sit down to family meals are also less likely to be overweight. The difference was most noticeable in girls who were often 14 per cent less likely to be overweight than girls who skipped the family meal and almost 30 per cent less likely to engage in extreme weight control measures.

Studies have also found that preschoolers whose families ate together had better language skills because mealtime served as an opportunity for them to hear more spoken language and a chance to process adult conversations. Teenagers do even better, with studies showing that the more often teens eat with their families, the less likely kids are to smoke, drink, do drugs, get depressed, and the more likely they are to do well in school.

This, say the experts is down to one simple thing – structure. Family meals not only help children to develop sound eating patterns, but help give kids their parents undivided attention, which in turn aids better communication and openness all round.

Benefits for you

Eating together also holds a multitude of benefits for you: Firstly you have more control over quality and quantity of your family’s food choices. Secondly eating together enables you to instil healthy attitudes to your kids about food (as kids tend to mimic their parents behaviour around foods). Thirdly research also shows families who regularly gather around the table to eat their meals have:

• More unity
• A greater affection for one another
• Better rates of sibling bonding
• Children with a happier outlook on life

The reasoning here is sitting down together provides an opportunity to connect and talk about important personal and family issues. It also helps your children to learn how to behave positively within a group and have their say in a structured environment.

How to get your family together

Of course, not all family members are eager to embrace family meals so for reluctant family members who aren’t used to sitting down, or those who can’t get with habit, food guru Annabel Karmel (www.annabelkarmel.com) suggests:

• Eating seated around a table, not in front of the TV or all over the kitchen.
• Making meals simple and fun so your kids aren’t eager to rush off back to the TV or computer.
• Shopping and cooking with your kids so they get a say in what they’re eating at family meal times.
• Having a night a week where the kids decide what everyone is going to eat and then cook it for you.
• Remembering that eating together as a family is about communication so talking to your children about their day, and not just to your partner is vital.
• Bearing in mind that meal times are not an excuse to tell your kids off about all the things they have done to annoy you. This is a guaranteed way to put them off family meals.
• If your family has a very hectic schedule, which makes daily meal together impossible, implement a ritual at least a couple of times a week where everyone has to attend i.e. Sunday lunch, and Friday evenings.
• Ban mobile phones, instant messaging, computers, newspapers and TV though, be aware this can make older kids rush their meals and cause fights. It can help to have a five-minute window where everyone can use their phones and then switch off. Make the rule for adults too.
• Persevering even if it’s tough at first because the ritual and the conversation gets easier the more you do it.