SURABAYA — The reduction in quality time due to parents’ busy work schedules and children engrossed in their devices after school has slowly diminished the warmth of home. This modern reality often weakens the emotional bond between parents and children. Amidst these fraught communication barriers, simple activities around the dinner table are often forgotten. Yet, cooking and eating together have a significant impact on breaking down these barriers.
Besides providing physical nutrition, these activities also provide a space for psychological stimulation and child development. However, is gathering around the dinner table truly capable of fortifying children’s mental health for the future?
According to psychologist Vera Itabiliana Hadiwidjojo, family time doesn’t have to involve going on vacation, but can simply involve everyday activities that can be done at home, one of which is cooking. According to KlikDokter and Halodoc, this collaboration between the kitchen and the dining table offers a myriad of benefits, from developing fine motor skills, honing counting skills through measuring spices, to strengthening family bonds.
Scientifically, involvement in the kitchen is also effective in reducing picky eating behavior in children. A study in the journal Appetite revealed that children who participate in cooking eat up to 76 percent more vegetables due to the fostering of a sense of ownership and pride. Similarly, the Indonesian Pediatrician Association (IDAI) emphasizes that the mealtime process is a space for learning and interaction. When children are involved in the kitchen, mealtimes are no longer a battleground of nerves or coercion. Instead, they become a fun activity that sparks children’s curiosity to taste their own creations.
This sense of pride from the kitchen then culminates at the dinner table, where food becomes an emotional symbol. When surrounded by parents, children perceive a sense of security and belonging. Conversely, eating alone triggers feelings of isolation. Ironically, this sense of exclusion can also be triggered by the trap of excessively differentiated menus. When parents serve delicious dishes while children are given a specific menu that is bland or visually unappetizing, children feel excluded from the main family group. Parents can overcome this by keeping the basic ingredients the same, but varying the level of spiciness or smoothing the texture if the child is still on solid food.
This togetherness has been proven to be a long-term investment in mental health. This is the basis for the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN)’s intensive “Back to the Table” campaign. The BKKBN emphasizes that high-quality family interactions—one of which is through a 20-minute meal together without devices—are the main foundation for children’s psychological well-being. With healthy interactions, adolescents will be more resilient in dealing with stress and minimize the risk of negative outcomes such as brawls and drug abuse.
These challenges of modern busyness can be addressed by utilizing dinner time or weekends, and implementing meal prep (preparing ingredients on days off) to shorten the weekday cooking process. So, let’s put down the devices, turn off the television, and gather around the dinner table for the sake of our children’s future.
