Family meals and cooking with kids
Eating together and cooking together are linked with better eating and more confidence around food. Much of the benefit seems to come from close family relationships.
Family meals and kids helping in the kitchen are linked with better eating and more confidence around food. A study of 3,398 fifth graders found kids who helped cook more often liked fruits and vegetables more. Much of the family-meal link reflects closer family relationships, so the meal is part of a bigger picture.
What the research found
- Family meals. An umbrella review of 41 reviews (Snuggs & Harvey, 2023) found more frequent family meals associated with better diet, less depression and disordered eating, and higher self-esteem. Results for risk behaviors and school achievement were mixed.
- Kids who cook. Among 3,398 Canadian fifth graders (Chu et al., 2013), helping prepare meals more often was associated with liking fruits and vegetables more and feeling more confident choosing healthy foods.
- Skills that last. In a 10-year US study (Utter et al., 2018), young adults who felt confident cooking ate more vegetables and less fast food in their 30s, and those with families had more family meals.
- School cooking programs. A 2023 review found cooking programs often improved kids' vegetable preferences, but results for what kids actually ate were mixed.
Where experts disagree
In a study of about 18,000 teens (Musick & Meier, 2012), family relationship quality, income and family structure explained much of the link between dinners and wellbeing, and only some associations held up over time. Most meal research is cross-sectional, and there's no single definition of a "family meal."
How this shaped OurDot
Family Kitchen focuses on time together, not counting: every recipe has a job for each age, any shared meal counts (a video-call dinner with Grandpa too), and it never tracks what anyone eats, how much, or anything about their body. No streaks, no "missed dinner."
What we don't claim
- That family dinners prevent drug use or depression.
- That cooking with kids makes them eat more vegetables. Results for intake are mixed.