In Episode 2, "Is it the Family, or the Dinner?" we dive into one of the trickiest topics in family dinner research: How to tell whether it's really eating together that offers a variety of physical, mental, social, and academic benefits, or whether it just so happens that families who eat together already practice healthy habits. Dr. Fishel outlines the various types of research that have been done on this topic over the past two and a half decades, and covers the scientific methods that back up the results. Together, she and Bri talk through how researchers in different countries, controlling for different factors, have all come to similar conclusions over time -- that eating meals together does benefit families, independent of anything else parents may do.

Dr. Fishel covers some of the main benefits of family dinners, as well as discussing multiple studies in the field of family meal research. Some of the specific research she mentions can be accessed in more detail:

• A large cross-sectional study showing association between family dinners and reduced high-risk behaviors in teens, that controls for characteristics of the family like being organized and connected. 
• Longitudinal study looking at the quality of the family dinner atmosphere to predict physical and mental health benefits from age 6 to age 10. 
• Randomized study looking at impact of distraction on healthy food consumption and another study on impact of spending extra minutes at the table on eating more fruits and vegetables.
• A recent study that looks at the impact of frequency and quality of family dinner on kids and adults.

The episode wraps with food (Build Your Own meals), fun (20 Questions About a Family Memory), and conversation (Tell me something about yourself you think I might not know).

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