Want to find love, raise better kids, negotiate an important contract, foster world peace and make an impact on others? Then it behooves you to prioritize dinner — because your dinner table is also your power table.
Mounting evidence proves that children who regularly eat dinner with their family develop better:
- grades
- vocabulary
- self-esteem
- resilience
- leadership skills
- connection to family history
They also are more likely to avoid obesity, eating disorders, intoxicants, smoking, teenage pregnancy and depression.
Intriguingly, growing up with regularly scheduled family dinners is the single most common characteristic of corporate CEOs — even more so than earning Eagle Scout badges or achieving significant athletic success. The evidence of the power of family dinner is so compelling that retired AT&T senior corporate executive Shelly London and Harvard Medical School Professor of Psychology Dr. Anne K. Fishel founded The Family Dinner Project, a nonprofit with online resources to help every family enjoy better food, fun and conversation around the family dinner table. When corporate America meets the Ivy League to promote something, it must be powerful.
It’s not just family dinners that make life (and business) better, but any meal that provides thoughtful, engaging experiences. Our high notes in life are celebrated with great dinners; our lows are made tolerable with comfort food. Our best conversations are almost always over something to eat or drink.
The dinner table you create, host or join is truly your power table. Our May/June print magazine and our online content will help you make the most of it.
As always, our content not only connects you to the best ideas and resources in your community, it but also makes it easier for you to help others.
If you are reading this, you likely own a beautiful home in a relatively safe neighborhood. Wherever possible, you choose to put your money toward products that are organic, sustainable and locally sourced, from family-owned businesses. You are also naturally inclined to help others. That’s probably why you choose to read this magazine — because everything Make It Better does creates virtuous circles and amplifies social impact.
Just by reading this, following us online, coming to our events, sharing your thoughts with us, and sharing our articles and recommendations with others, you are helping others.
You are important to us and to the world. Thank you for sharing your valuable attention here. We hope our annual dining issue finds a seat at your power table.
More from Make It Better:
- Get Rolling: A Family-Friendly Guide to Biking in Chicago
- Why You Absolutely Need an Emergency Fund
- 6 Tips for Healthy Grilling
Susan B. Noyes is the founder of Make It Better. She practiced labor law at Sidley & Austin before deciding to lay down the law full-time for her six children instead. Her favorite time of the day is family dinner, despite her children’s constant misbehavior. Susan loves to network, build community, write and organize lots of moving pieces. Her motto: “A clean home is a wasted life.”
