TMIT 03: Family Meals (+ Experiment Update)

TMIT 03: Family Meals

“Instead of feeling guilty because you don’t have the six o’clock thing, it’s about coming together as a family whenever you have the time.” - Jennifer Besh, as quoted in The Secrets of Happy Families

This week on The Most Important Thing, we’re sharing updates from our first two experiments—family meetings and family stories. We also unpack the research (and our own hesitancies) around family meals: are they really as essential as everyone says? Or is the story more nuanced? Join us as we keep exploring how high-performing families build culture at home—one experiment at a time.

Show Notes:

Three simple ingredients:

1. Same time, same place
2. All devices away
3. Eat together, but don’t make it about the food

• The Family Dinner Project Podcast

• Systematic Review – Family Meals and Psychosocial Outcomes (2015)

  • This review found consistent positive associations between frequent family meals and youth outcomes like reduced substance use, eating disorders, and depressive symptoms—even after controlling for variables like family connectedness.

• Study – Family Meals Predicting Family Cohesion (2011)

• • This longitudinal study found that frequent family meals not only reflected but also contributed to greater family cohesion over time, suggesting a reinforcing relationship.

• Study – Longitudinal associations between family meal quality and quantity: Does one matter more for child, parent, and family health and well-being or are they synergistic? (2023) 

• • This longitudinal study followed diverse families with children ages 5–9 to explore how family meal frequency (quantity) and meal atmosphere and nutrition (quality) impacted health and well-being over 18 months.

  Study – How touch can influence judgments (2010)