It’s been a tough year for us all during the pandemic as most of the time we have been in lock down and were not allowed to go out unless absolutely necessary. If we went to the shops, we were only meant to buy the bare essentials for what we need to survive. There were even security staff inside some supermarkets checking our trolleys and baskets to see if we were picking up any luxuries which wasn’t allowed.
This has led many families at home to run out of the items that they like to eat and drink most. It has also led to meal fatigue with many families running out of ideas of something that they can make that is quick, easy and healthy with what they have remaining in their houses. This may cause some families to have to make the same dish over and over again which leads to them becoming sick of having the same meal.
It has been revealed that:
53% of parents struggle to prepare a meal that the entire family will enjoy
26% find it challenging to create a meal that is both healthy and affordable
An eye-watering 81% of UK parents have admitted to experiencing ‘meal fatigue’ and are struggling to think of new meals to cook that are family friendly, healthy, easy to make and offer variety.
With more than a quarter of parents (28%) finding it challenging to make dinner exciting so their children will eat everything, more than half of parents (53%) struggle to prepare a meal that everyone will enjoy and 26% find it difficult to create a meal that is both healthy and affordable and within their budget (14%).
The research, which was conducted by premium children’s brand, Stokke, and explored the importance of eating meals together as a family, found that almost half of those surveyed (49%) believe eating together as a family creates a happier child and 34% believe it creates a more confident child.
A typical family meal lasts twenty three minutes, however Brits are keen to make them as memorable as possible so that we have some good memories during these bad times when we are in a pandemic and limits are being put on the amount of freedom we have to go out and about the way we used to. This has meant many people now look forward to eating together in the evenings as it is a time when they can chat about their day and de-stress with family and people they care about.
Keen to get everyone involved, 61% of parents let their children help with dinner, with 45% doing so to help teach their children life skills. Over a third of parents (36%) allow their children to set the dinner table and more than a quarter (29%) of kids help with meal preparation tasks, such as washing vegetables and stirring food.
As more than a third of families view eating together a family tradition (36%) and 40% use mealtimes to discuss any problems or issues, dinner time doesn’t come without its challenges. 82% of parents worry about the nutritional value of the food they are serving their children and keen to ensure they are getting the balance right, 50% worry if the food they are preparing contains too much sugar, too much salt (49%) and too much saturated or trans fats (35%).
The extra time and effort that families are putting in to spending time together helps with the functioning of the family unit as during lock down schools will have been closed to the majority of pupils so many children will have needed help and advice on learning how to grow up and develop in to functioning adults in society. This duty will have been passed on to parents to help fulfil and will help children keep up with their development to learn to function in mainstream society. This will help build the next generation who can gain the skills they need in order to help society through the next major crisis.
