When you have young children, it can be tempting to feed them early, then sit down to a separate meal once they’re in bed.

But setting a routine where you eat as a family, for even a couple of nights a week, can lay the foundations for healthy eating habits, positive relationships with food and social skills that extend into adulthood.

Here’s why – and how you can make family mealtimes with young children more manageable.

Preschool-aged children who regularly eat with their families eat more fruit and vegetables and are less likely to develop fussy eating habits.

One reason is children learn through observation. When parents and older siblings eat and enjoy a wide variety of foods, children are more likely to try and accept those foods themselves.

Allowing children to touch, explore and play with food in their first year supports sensory development and confidence with eating. It can be messy – much of the food will end up on faces, hands or the floor – but this exploration is a normal and valuable part of learning to eat.

Family meals provide repeated, low-pressure opportunities for children to become familiar with a variety of foods. Over time, this exposure can increase acceptance of foods that they initially refuse.

Tuning into hunger........

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