Make Mealtime Matter

A Healthy Lynnfield, an active community partnership working hard to keep youth and families in Lynnfield healthy, is launching the Make Mealtime Matter campaign. The goal of the campaign is to increase the number of youth that report they sit down to a meal with their family three or more times a week.

“A Healthy Lynnfield saw the research done by The Family Dinner Project, headquartered in Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, clearly shows that sharing a family meal is good for the spirit, the brain and the health of all family members,’ said Diana DeLeo, Community Outreach & Engagement Coordinator, A Healthy Lynnfield.

The Family Dinner Project’s research shows:

• Teens who eat regular family dinners are less likely to engage in risky behaviors such as drug and alcohol use.
• Regular family meals are linked with lower rates of depression and anxiety.
• Family dinner conversations boost young kids’ vocabulary even more than reading aloud.
• Kids who eat family dinners tend to have a higher grade point average than those who don’t have a family dinner routine at home.
• Kids whose families eat together tend to have higher self-esteem than their peers.
• Teens who have regular family dinners are more likely to have positive body images.
• Family dinners are linked to a reduced risk of childhood obesity.
• Teens report that family dinners are one of their favorite activities (yes, really)!

“Residents should expect to see elements of this community-wide social norms campaign in multiple paces,” said DeLeo. “We will be posting on social media, mailing postcards, running ads in local papers, partnering with Market Street, engaging with all public schools, and hosting events to spread the important message that having meals together really matters.”

To learn more about the campaign and to explore research, recipes, and resources go to www.AHealthlyLynnfield.org and click on the Make Mealtime Matter logo.

“Family connectedness is the key ingredient for reducing high risk behaviors,” added DeLeo. “There are so many great resources that are part of this campaign which are designed to make mealtime easy and rewarding. We hope members of the community will take advantage of them.