The Greenfield, MA Recorder Covers Dr. Fishel’s Visit

After Dr. Fishel’s recent lecture to Communities that Care in Franklin County, MA, the local news recapped her visit with an article in the Greenfield Recorder.

As the article relates, “In Franklin County, the most recent annual survey of teens shows that 58 percent of teens report that they have dinner with their families four or more nights a week — and that among those teens, there’s a dramatic correlation with lower use of alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana, a lower risk of depression and stronger connections with parents, along with a higher consumption of fruit.” Building upon that local research and the numerous other studies that have shown the benefits of family dinner for both children and adults, Dr. Fishel gave a talk to school and human services workers who deal directly with families to encourage them to help their clients make dinnertime a priority.

Read the account of Dr. Fishel’s lecture and community dinner in The Greenfield Recorder.

Dr. Fishel on the Live Happy Podcast

Recently, Dr. Fishel was honored to appear as a guest on the Live Happy podcast, talking about family dinners and discussing her book with listeners. In the episode, Dr. Fishel offers research, wisdom and advice about:

• Why regular family dinners are great for the body, brain and the spirit
• Tips for thriving conversation around the dinner table
• Why playing with your food is beneficial to mental health
• Ideas to overcome picky eaters, busy schedules and tension at the table

Listen to the podcast on the Live Happy site.

Five Myths About Family Dinners

Each year, more than 9 in 10 Americans gather around the table with family and friends for Thanksgiving. But only 50 percent of us eat with our family on a regular basis. That’s too bad. Twenty years of research has shown that family dinners are great for the brain (enhancing preschool vocabulary and raising test scores), body (improving cardiovascular health in teens and lowering the odds of obesity) and spirit (reducing rates of behavioral problems, stress and substance abuse). But in extolling the virtues of the family dinner, we may have obscured what the meal is actually about and why it serves parents and children. In that gap lies a thick stew of myths.

1. Teens don’t want to eat with their parents
2. Family dinners are anti-feminist
3. Family dinners depend on a homemade meal
4. Families don’t have time to pull it off
5. Food fights make family dinners impossible

Read the article in full and find out what Dr. Fishel has to say about these five common family dinner myths on The Washington Post.

Dr. Fishel Interviewed in The Boston Globe

In a recent Boston Globe article, Dr. Fishel spoke about a new Canadian study linking family dinners to lower BMI and better cardiovascular health indicators in children and teens.

“If kids aren’t welcomed into the conversation, or if there’s criticism, you’re not going to see the benefits,” said Fishel, author of the book “Home for Dinner: Mixing Food, Fun, and Conversation for a Happier Family and Healthier Kids.” “There’s nothing magical about lasagna in itself.”

Among other points made in the interview, Dr. Fishel offered suggestions for families who may be too busy to gather around the dinner table every night. She also encouraged parents to involve kids actively in food preparation, which can lighten the workload as well as heighten children’s interest in family meals by giving them ownership of the process.

Learn more about the Canadian study and read the article in full on The Boston Globe’s website.

A Thanksgiving Expert Roundtable

When Americans gather together around a table groaning with favorite dishes on the fourth Thursday of November, what are we doing beyond filling our bellies with turkey and pie? We convened four experts in the psychology of family traditions and shared meals for a roundtable discussion about what ritual means in the context of Thanksgiving.

Anne Fishel, psychologist and author of Home for Dinner: I think of Thanksgiving as the mother of all family dinners. As a ritual, it has all the important ingredients – a prescribed time and place; aspects that are predictable and repeated year after year (signature foods) and some that are novel (guests added and departed, new family stories and arguments); and meaning conveyed through symbols. Each year, families come together to revisit something familiar but keep adding new layers of meaning, so that the ritual is reinterpreted….

Read the entire article, with input from experts Janine Roberts, Barbara Fiese and Bill Doherty alongside Dr. Anne Fishel, on The Conversation.

Join Dr. Fishel at Boston Book Festival

On Thursday, October 22, 2015, parents and children ages 3-10 can join Dr. Anne Fishel for a fun interactive workshop at the South End Library, presented in conjunction with The Family Dinner Project as part of the Boston Book Festival.

Dr. Fishel has written extensively about the many benefits of family dinners, including a boost in literacy skills for kids, and how to use dinnertime as a fun opportunity to encourage reading. At this workshop, participants will eat foods from favorite children’s books, have conversations about reading, and have fun telling their own stories.

What’s your favorite food from a book? Green eggs and ham, Strega Nona’s magic noodles, or clam chowder from Moby Dick? Come eat, talk, and explore the many connections between dinner and reading.

4:30 p.m. Thursday, 10/22/15
South End Library, 685 Tremont Street, Boston

Space is limited — please RSVP to paromita@thefamilydinnerproject.org if you wish to attend.

Dr. Fishel Appears on “Mom Enough”

Last week, Dr. Fishel had the pleasure of appearing as a guest on the Mom Enough radio show to weigh in on the importance of family dinners. During the show, entitled “The Why and How of Mealtimes that Build Health and Happiness for You and Your Family,” Dr. Fishel spoke about the many benefits of family meals; how to work around the common challenges that often stand in the way of having regular dinners together; tips for making the family table a more enjoyable place to be; and much more. The Mom Enough hosts were so excited by the interview that they say they’ll be listening to the audio recording at least once a month from now on to remind themselves of the many ways they can transform dinnertime in their own homes!

Find out more about the interview and the Mom Enough radio show, and hear the full audio recording of Dr. Fishel’s appearance, on MomEnough.com.

Join Dr. Fishel and Dr. Greene for a Twitter Chat!

On June 1, 2015, Dr. Anne Fishel will be joining the regular Dr. Greene “Let’s Talk Kids’ Health” Twitter chat to discuss the importance of family dinners. The chat, titled The Power of Family Dinner, will take place at 9 p.m. EST under the hashtag #LTKH.

Dr. Fishel will be lending her expertise to subjects such as:

• The impact of family dinners on teen behavior
• What research shows about the health benefits of family dinners
• How conversation at the dinner table benefits kids

And many other important topics! We hope you’ll join in the chat and invite your friends and family to participate as well.

What Happens When the Whole Family Plays with Food?

Susan Newman, PhD., has posted a review of Home for Dinner on Psychology Today. She begins:

What to make for dinner? “What will the kids eat?” What a drag. And, given everyone’s packed schedules, how do we make time for dinner and make it interesting and fun?

Way too often, I believed I had made a stellar meal only to be met with grimaces, “Mom, you know I don’t eat that.” One of my daughters was adamant that a stack of Oreo cookies was the ideal meal. That same daughter now reports getting “payback” for all the times she turned up her nose at the dishes I put in front of her. My granddaughter refuses to eat or try the foods my daughter prepares….

Read the review in its entirety at Psychology Today.

Dr. Fishel in New York State

Dr. Fishel is excited and pleased to be traveling to New York State in the upcoming week. She’s looking forward to speaking at two events:

• Parenting Lecture Series at the Town School, April 28, 2015. Dr. Fishel will be meeting with parents for an in-depth discussion of the research and best practices covered in Home for Dinner. The session will focus on family dinner as a key component of contributing to healthy development – both physically and socio-emotionally – throughout all stages of childhood, as well as how a positive mealtime dynamic can have beneficial impacts on all members of a family.
• 15th Annual Women’s Health and Fitness Expo, May 2, 2015. Dr. Fishel will lead a seminar entitled How to Get the Most out of Your Family Dinners: Eat Well, Play, Talk, Experiment, and Engage with the Wider World, in which she’ll offer her perspectives as a family therapist, working parent, and community organizer to help participants create more meaningful mealtime experiences. Storytelling, playing with your food, and using the time spent cooking and eating together to spark deeper conversations and acts of social engagement will be particular highlights of this session with Dr. Fishel.

For more information about other appearances and upcoming events featuring Dr. Fishel, visit the Events page.