Can Family Dinners Be Harmful?
Although sharing food and conversation around the table is generally thought to promote family bondedness, sometimes this can backfire. Controlling and dysfunctional parents sitting face-to-face with children can sometimes lead to long-term scars. Some studies have linked early mealtime experiences with bulimia nervosa (23). Their parents dominated or controlled the conversations, hostilities were brought up and children’s opinions were suppressed. The parental control extended to eating and girls felt pressured to eat rapidly, “clean their plates” and finish dinner at the same time as other family members. Their parents used food as a tool for punishment or manipulation, offering food as a treat when the girls were hurt or upset. These experiences were long lasting, and the college women in the study still felt guilty or stressed if they refused food offered by their families. Obstacles To Family Mealtimes Conflicting schedules. Almost every piece of research, story in the popular pre
