The Habit That Keeps Their Family Close: Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli follow one simple dinner routine for their children

For Bollywood actress and producer Anushka Sharma, one of the routines that has now become a permanent part of family life with Virat Kohli and their children started for a surprisingly simple reason, their daughter Vamika wanted to eat early. In interviews over the past few years, the actress has spoken about how having dinner around 5:30 pm eventually became a family habit, with the couple choosing to eat with their children rather than follow a later dinner schedule.

What began as a something that was simply convenient, she said, also changed the way she felt.

How Vamika's dinner time became a family routine

“It started out as convenience because my daughter would want her dinner early. She would eat it around 5.30, and most of the time it would be me and her home alone. So, I’d think, what am I going to do now, might as well sleep,” Anushka said at an event.


The habit eventually stayed and Anushka later described early dinner as one of the changes she felt had made a noticeable difference to her daily routine.

“I eat early dinner and I think it is doing wonders to my health… by 5:30, 6 dinner is done… So, I eat with my daughter,” she said during an interactive session hosted by Puma, which she attended with Virat.

According to Anushka, after adopting this early dinner habit she started sleeping better, waking up with more energy and experiencing less brain fog. She said early eating was the only significant change she had made to her lifestyle that she could associate with these improvements.

Virat and the children now follow it too

What started with Anushka adjusting to Vamika's schedule eventually became a routine for the whole family.

“It was out of convenience, but it’s now something that the entire family does,” Anushka said.

She has also spoken about the importance of keeping meal and sleep timings consistent for her children, particularly because the family travels quite often. For her, a fixed routine provides children with some stability even when their surroundings keep changing.

“I am very particular about routine. We travel a lot as a family, and my kids experience many changes in their lives. So, by creating a routine for them, I am giving them a sense of control. Meal times are fixed, no matter where we are, we eat at the same time and sleep at the same time. It helps regulate themselves much better,” she explained.

Anushka has also said that she and Virat personally prepare food for their children, with the intention of passing family recipes on to the next generation.

Anushka's approach to parenting

The actress has linked her approach to parenting to her own upbringing in an Army family, where discipline and clear boundaries were part of everyday life.

She recalled that if she and her siblings were unwilling to eat something, their father would not force them to stay at the table. Instead, he would make it clear that if they became hungry later, the same food would be available.

For Anushka, such experiences shaped her understanding of routine, discipline and gratitude.

She has also acknowledged that modern parenting comes with an endless stream of advice, particularly through social media. “It’s like, ‘Oh, I’m struggling with this,’ and boom, Instagram algorithm, which is going to tell you what wrong you’re doing with your kid and what you just do instead. It’s a great blessing; sometimes it can drive you insane,” she said.

Rather than trying to follow every parenting trend, Anushka has suggested that families need to find routines that work for them.

What research says about family meals

Research has also studied the role of regular family meals in children's lives. A systematic review of 14 studies found that frequent family meals were associated with several positive psychosocial outcomes among children and adolescents, including higher self-esteem and better school success. The review also found associations with lower levels of some risky behaviours and depressive symptoms.

Another study of nearly 2,800 adolescents found that family dinner frequency was associated with aspects of diet quality and family functioning.

These studies do not establish that an early dinner itself produces those benefits. But they add context to the broader idea behind Anushka and Virat's routine: making time for meals together can become an important part of family life.