Regular family mealtimes can give a boost to your child’s brain

Scientists from Colorado State University have conducted research which shows that regular family routines are linked to children getting more sleep which has been associated with improved brain structure and emotional processing in their early years. Families eating together at the same time nearly every night, parents playing with their children, reading stories at bedtime and children going to bed at the same time every night had a positive impact on brain development.

MRI scans revealed that shorter sleep duration led to reduced cortical thickness in the frontal, temporal and parietal regions of the brain and smaller volume of the amygdala, a brain region key to emotional processing.

Researchers found that children from lower income families and those who had lower levels of education were more likely to get less sleep.