Cooking With Your Children
Why it's so important to spend time in the kitchen with your children -- and how you can get started
Some long-term benefits:
- Learning to cook is a skill your children can use for the rest of their lives.
- Kids who learn to eat well may be more likely to eat healthfully as adults.
- Positive cooking experiences can help build self-confidence.
- Kids who cook with their parents may even be less likely to abuse drugs.
Less likely to abuse drugs? It makes perfect sense if you consider a report from The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. In the report, Family Matters: Substance Abuse and the American Family, the center recommends 10 steps parents can take to prevent substance abuse. Among them are these three:
1. Be caring and supportive of your child.
Parents get many opportunities to compliment and support their children while they're in the kitchen together. How important is this? Parental praise, affection, acceptance, and family bonding -- as perceived by children -- are all associated with a reduced risk of substance use. An excellent relationship with either parent is associated with a reduced risk for substance use than the average teen.
2. Open the lines of communication.
Kids having fun in the kitchen, elbow to elbow, are likely to interact with each other and with their parents. Cooking together gives parents and children time together to talk and share thoughts and stories. "Communication doesn't start when your child is 17," says Ross Brower, MD, deputy medical director for the Weill Cornell Medical Center. "It should start when your child is 3."
3. Eat dinner together regularly.
Involving your kids in the kitchen is a big stepping-stone to getting them to appreciate family meals. Because of challenging work, school, and sports schedules, many families struggle to sit down to even one daily meal together. But you can start by maximizing weekend opportunities to eat together.
How to Start Cooking with Your Kids
One good place to start is the first meal of the day: breakfast. Evidence suggests that eating breakfast improves memory and test grades (some elements of a healthy breakfast are high-fiber and nutrient-rich whole grains, fruits, and dairy products).
Pressed for time in the morning? Start cooking breakfast with your kids on the weekends, during the summer months, or on school holidays.