Given the busy lifestyles, parents have fewer opportunities to be with their children at meal time.

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While I agree with the dogs behaviour at meal time, this does not go to their negotiating ability.

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It is best done at meal time in the evening at a well-lighted table in a quiet corner, or under a tree in the morning.

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But these days, even when parents do have the time and the resources to buy healthy foods and make a simple meal at home, the reality is that kids are spending a third of their time at school, right?

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Every day of the week had its own meal, prepared exactly the same way at the same time.

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Now he weighs 170 and for the first time in years can eat a full meal at a restaurant.

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While I struggle to decide what to eat from full cupboards and lament what I don't have, he circles the floor, excitedly anticipating the very same meal, in the very same portion, at the very same time every day.

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Manufacturers are only too happy to indulge these desires, with refrigerators that let you surf the Internet for recipes, ovens that will keep a meal cool while you're at work and start roasting it in time for your arrival home, and sinks that turn into dishwashers --look Ma, no loading!

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If you do not have time for a meal, step in for a martini or Manhattan at the long bar and watch the parade of high society drop in for dinner.

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But very frequent travellers may not have that option - the constant transition from place to place leaves little time to take a walk, prepare and eat a healthy meal at home or stick with a training regimen at the gym.

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