Benefits of family-style meals! Learn why we like offering these types of meals in our homes and how they can support a child’s growth and relationship with food.
What is a Family-Style Meal?
A family-style meal is an approach to serving meals where dishes are placed in the center of the table, and everyone serves themselves.
This allows everyone, kids and adults alike, to share the same food from the same serving dishes (on a level playing field if you will).
Everyone has the chance to choose what foods they want to eat, including the portions they want and what they might want seconds of afterward.
We like serving family-style meals because it creates an inclusive environment that encourages interaction, sharing, and interaction on an individual level – which is especially important for our kids. Plus, this way of offering family meals encourages flexibility and variety.
Here are 7 benefits of family-style meals if you’re wondering whether it’s worth a shot at your family table.
1. It encourages their independence
Allowing kids the chance to serve themselves fosters a sense of autonomy and control over their food choices, making them more likely to try new foods.
This is a perfect representation of Ellyn Satter’s Division of Responsibility in Feeding – for which we’re huge advocates! It’s our job as parents and caregivers to provide healthy food choices, and it’s our kid’s job to decide what and how much of it they want to eat at a meal.
2. It exposes them to variety
With a range of options available, family-style meals help expose our kids to different foods and flavors.
While it can take 10+ times of seeing a food before a child tastes it and determines whether they like it, continued consistent exposure increases the likelihood that they will experiment and find new favorites.
3. It reduces pressure
One of the biggest struggles around kids and eating is feeling like we have to put them under pressure to eat certain (healthy) things. As we’ve personally experienced, this rarely goes well.
Family-style meals reduce the pressure on kids to eat specific amounts or types of food, creating a more relaxed environment for trying new things.
If it seems appropriate, you can also incorporate food play into a family-style meal setup, to further reduce pressure on your kiddo.
4. It enhances their social skills
Food is naturally something that brings us together socially. You can experience the social benefits of food in your home, too.
Serving family-style meals makes mealtime a social activity where kids learn to share, take turns, and engage in conversation, improving their communication and interpersonal skills.
This can also be a time to ask engaging questions like, “What’s your favorite green food on the table?” or “What does that carrot smell like?”
5. It helps develop intuitive eating
Intuitive eating means being able to listen to your hunger-fullness cues and eating enough to be satisfied but not over-stuffed.
While infants are born with this innate tool, it can easily be lost with all of the external factors they’re exposed to as kids get older.
Bringing intentional mindfulness to the table, and removing obstacles and distractions from intentional eating, can help set kids up for a healthier relationship with food and their body. Family-style meals are a great way to put it into action.
6. It can boost their eating confidence
Offering family-style meals that allow kids to have more opportunities for independence can also boost their confidence.
When they’re successfully trying and liking new foods in a way that feels “on their own”, kids can feel more confident in their ability to make good food choices.
7. It helps plant the seed for healthy eating habits long-term
Consistent exposure to a variety of healthy foods can help kids develop a preference for nutrient-rich options and establish lifelong healthy eating patterns.
Family-style meals, and family meals in general, also allow your kids to see you making healthy food choices on a regular basis.
This helps make healthy eating the norm, which is especially important as they see more and more external food influences (through marketing geared toward kids, school lunches, vending machines, and what their peers may be eating).
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Chime In: Do you serve family-style meals at home? How does it go for you?
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