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The benefits of family dinners are overrated
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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Some families have long-established traditions, and one of them is a shared meal, when all family members gather at the same table.
It is believed that having breakfast, lunch or dinner together helps to establish contacts between parents and children, and also helps to strengthen family ties. In addition, there is an opinion that thanks to such family "get-togethers", the child has higher academic performance at school, and family dinners have a very positive effect on his behavior.
However, a new study from Boston University researchers shows that family meals do not have as strong an impact as previously thought.
According to experts, all their attempts to find a connection between family dinners and academic performance or behavior have been in vain.
"We find no association between family dinners or lunches and grades in school, and we don't see any effect on a child's behavior," said lead author Daniel Miller. "It doesn't matter what age the children are or how often they eat together."
Researchers from Columbia and New York universities have already conducted studies in this area, relying on data from the National Representative Sample of the United States. The researchers monitored preschool-age children from 1998 until they reached 15 years of age.
The scientists took into account all the factors that could have a potential impact on the child: parental employment at work, their behavior at home, school conditions, teachers' experience, and much more.
Ultimately, the experts found that the influence of family time, in particular gathering around the same table, has virtually no effect on a child's academic performance or behavior.
“We’re not advising families to break their family traditions and stop having meals together,” says Dr. Miller. “It’s just that the idea of how much impact they have is misguided. Families who believe that family meals, where everyone is together, are important may want to think beyond just eating together and think about other ways to interact with their child.”