July 7, 2014 – Professor Harold Pass, PhD, director of psychotherapy training in the Department of Psychiatry at Stony Brook University, was quoted at length in an article in the Riverhead News-Review about the benefits families can realize from eating together. Leah Holbrook, MS, RD, coordinator of Stony Brook University’s graduate nutrition program, was also quoted extensively. The article, titled “Lessons from the dinner table,” was written by Carrie Miller and published on June 29, 2014.
After describing the nutritional advantages of eating as a family (smaller portion sizes, more vegetables, healthier foods, etc.), the article quotes Dr. Pass on the psychological and social benefits of family meals. Family dinners provide opportunities for parents to learn about their children’s activities and to hear about issues that may be troubling them, Dr. Pass said, adding that “family dinners can improve children’s ability to listen and participate in a dialogue — communications skills that aren’t as easy to acquire in today’s digital world of cellphones, television and video games.”
Interaction at the dinner table, Dr. Pass is quoted as saying, “becomes a template for how that child is going to interact with other people in their lives.” Rather than think of the family dinner as a burden, families should think of it as money in the bank, Dr. Pass said.