EatingTogether
AftermymotherpassedawayandmybrotherwenttostudyinNewZealand，thefirstthingthatreallyfeltdifferentwasthedinnertable．MyfatherandIbeganeatingseparately．Wewentouttodinnerswithourfriendsorjustatesandwichesinfrontofourcomputers．Then，afewweeksbeforeIwassettoleaveforuniversity，myfatherwalkeddownstairs．"Youknow，Ithinkweshouldstart
eatingtogetherevenifit'sjustyouandme，"hesaid．"Yourmotherwouldhavewantedthat．"
Itwasn'tperfect-themealswemadeweren'tamazingandwemissedMomandmybrother．Buttherewassomethingspecialaboutsettingasidetimetobewithmyfather．Itwasacomfortablemomenttogetawayfrombusydays：anexcusetotalk，tothinkabouttheday，andrecentevents．Eatingtogetherwasasmallact，anditneededverylittleofus-andyetitwassurelyoneofthehappiestpartsofmyday．
Sadly，Americanshardlyeattogetheranymore．Infact，mostAmericanfamiliesreporteatingasinglemealtogetherlessthanfivedaysaweek．It'sapitythatsomanyAmericansaremissingoutonthemeaningfultimewiththeirlovedones，andit'sevenmorethanthat．Noteatingtogetheralsohasnegative （消极的）effectsbothphysicallyandpsychologically （心理上地）．
Childrenwhodonoteatdinnerwiththeirparentsatleasttwiceaweekwere40% morelikelytobeoverweightcomparedtothosewhodo．Andstudentswhodonoteatwiththeirparentsaremorelikely tobetruantatschool．Justtheopposite，childrenwhodoeatdinnerwiththeirparentsfiveormoredaysaweekarelesslikelytorunawayfromschoolwithoutreason．Theyalsoreportbeingcloserwiththeirparentsthanchildrenwhoeatdinnerwiththeirparentslessoften，accordingtoastudyconductedbytheNationalCenteratColumbiaUniversity．
Thenhowdoweeatbetter，notjustfromanutritionalperspective （营养角度），butfromapsychologicaloneaswell？
Perhapsseeingeatingtogetherasanopportunitytogetawaywithstress，achancetocatchupwiththosewhomwelovecouldhelpourchildrendobetterinschool，getinbettershape，andbelesslikelytohaveproblems．Eatingtogetheralsoleadschildrentoreportbetterrelationshipswiththeirparentsandsurelyrelationshipsbetweenadultscansimilarlyb