It’s fantastic for kids. They eat more fruits and veggies, grow into less picky eaters, and here’s a fun one—it builds their vocabulary! That’s right, researchers have discovered that dinner table talk expands your kiddos’ word bank even more than reading them bedtime stories. It turns out children learn around 1,000 unique words from chatty family meals, compared to 143 from stories read aloud. And who doesn’t want to hear their five-year-old saying, “I prefer broccolini to petite green peas, please update the menu accordingly!” In all seriousness—get them in on meal planning, let them set the table, and most of all, savor the moments of laughter and childish wisdom. You’re laying a foundation that will be there long after grinning babyfaces have turned into beautiful bigger ones.

Your teenagers want to sit with you and spill the details of their day in the most comfortable place they know—around the family table. They may not admit it, but the proof is in the pudding, if that pudding is something you serve for dessert after family dinner. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University has some insight. They found meaningful differences between teens who ate with their families five or more times per week and those who ate together two or less. The teens who enjoyed more family mealtime were much less likely to smoke cigarettes or abuse alcohol and drugs. Their rate of depression and anxiety is often lower, and they get better grades in school. Teens also bring the conversing to the conversation! According to the CASA study, families with teenagers at the dinner table never ran out of topics to discuss. There’s nothing like a fifteen-year-old perspective to tell it like it is.

Family meals don’t have to be complicated or expensive or gourmet—they just need to be intentional, together. It’s not about the what; it’s about the who and the with and the why! Even if it’s a meal of peanut butter sandwiches and celery sticks (organic, non-GMO, and sprouted-grain bread of course), if you’re eating together, you’re eating better. So stash the phones, turn off the tv, and invite the conversations, the realness, and the wonder that comes when you share time around the table with your loved ones. From our family to yours, may we all “Eat Better…Together”!

References Available Upon Request