The best mealtime ingredient: Good conversation

By the time family members arrive home at the end of the day, they're often tired, hungry, and hassled -- hardly the frame of mind for great conversation.

To help jump-start dinnertime conversations, Dr. Tom Baranowski, a psychologist with the CNRC's Behavioral Nutrition section, offers these strategies:

• If family dinners aren't now common, begin by scheduling just one family dinner per week, choosing a night when everyone can be present. Once family members begin connecting over dinner, increase the frequency.
  
• Keep conversations interesting. Reciting a litany of work-woes or reviewing chore lists does little to build family ties or expand a child's view of the world.
  
• Create conversation-starting rituals. For example, have each family member plan to share a statement, perhaps about something interesting they recently did or learned. Or, even a silly joke. To help children feel more comfortable expressing feelings and thoughts, parents should offer their statements first.
  
• Keep comments positive and supportive. If children bring up problematic issues, suggest an after dinner talk to work out a solution together. This allows the child to save face and keeps the dinner table a safe place for children to bring up difficult topics.