Even when families do eat together, they don't make the most of this family time, with 75% of families watching TV while they eat. Nationwide, only 25% of families say they never have television on at mealtimes.

To encourage families to spend quality time together over a family meal, Raisingkids is launching the Back to the Table 2004 campaign, starting September 2004. To support Back to the Table 2004, parents can visit www.backtothetable.co.uk for useful information and advice, competitions, offers, news and tips on table-talk.

Dr Pat Spungin, parenting expert and founder of Raisingkids says; 'These days both parents and children have increasing demands on their time. At home, children spend more time alone, with their own TVs, computers and music systems and as a result, they spend less time in family activities. Eating together is often the only opportunity for the family to talk, share experiences, laugh and have ‘family time’. So for Back to the Table Week, we are urging parents to switch off the television and enjoy family meals.'

With so many demands on their time, it's tempting to see family mealtimes as a chore rather than a pleasure. But parents are aware of the benefits of sharing mealtimes. 89% of parents interviewed agreed with the statement 'families are missing out by not eating together'.

Of the families who don’t regularly eat together, the main reason was the different routines of family members. On a positive note, eating out is increasingly popular. Around half of the families polled eat out together at least once a month - and a restaurant is one place where the TV is unlikely to make an appearance.

According to Dr Spungin making mealtimes into 'social' times, when children and parents can relax and chat has many benefits. 'A sit-down meal is a great opportunity for children to learn social skills, table manners, and simply join in a conversation, which improves their linguistic abilities. Children become more appreciative of food when eating is a social pleasure and not merely a way of warding off hunger'.

Notes To Editors:

The survey:

• The National Family Mealtime Survey was conducted throughout June and July 2004.
• The sample size was 1,216 parents from the Raisingkids.co.uk registered database, which is representative of the UK population as a whole.

Raisingkids.co.uk:

• The UK’s leading parenting website
• Online May 2001
• Currently has 27,000 registered members
• 65,000 unique visitors per month
• Over 750,000 pages viewed each month
• For more information visit www.raisingkids.co.uk

Dr Pat Spungin Child Psychologist and Parenting expert

• Former University Lecturer
• Author
• Broadcaster on Family Matters
• For Media Profile click here
• For further information, please contact: Sharron Hall Tel: 020 8883 8621 Email: shall@raisingkids.co.uk

PRESS RELEASE: 14 JULY 2004