September is National Family Meals Month

Eating a meal together at home has some amazing benefits.

Research has shown that regular meals shared at home with family increases self-esteem, sense of well-being, positive social behaviors, and strong family connections. Having at least one meal a week together as a family carves out the time needed to relax, recharge, laugh, tell stories and catch up on the day’s ups and downs.

There are so many other benefits including:

• The more families share meals, the rates of substance abuse, teen pregnancy, school behavioral problems and depression go down.
• When families eat together they tend to have lower rates of obesity for both adults and children.
• Studies showed a positive relationship between family meal frequency and fruit and vegetable intake.
• There is a positive relationship between family meal frequency and family functioning.
• When kids eat with their parents they are more likely to have a better body image and fewer eating disorders

Perhaps one unexpected benefit of the pandemic has been an increase in family meals. Everyone had to eat together whether they wanted to or not! As we wait for the pandemic to subside, we can take solace in knowing there is power in the family meal. Who knew that eating together doesn’t just fill our bellies, but also makes our children feel better about themselves! In the meanwhile, we at Oryana will continue to provide easy, healthy meal solutions to take some of the stress out of meal planning and prep.

Our delis stock plenty of delicious food ready to go; just heat and eat. Our frozen aisles are great places to grab meal elements (it’s ok if meals aren’t 100% from scratch!) Check here for some easy meal ideas and be on the look-out for fun, easy virtual cooking classes coming up in October and November.