The Benefits of Frequent Family Dinners
A 2006
study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia
University compared children who eat dinner with their families at least 3
times a week, to children who eat dinner with their families 2 times or less
per week. The results are eye-opening! The study examined the relationship
between a child's tobacco and alcohol use, academic performance, and family
dinners.
The
children who eat more frequently with their families are:
1. At 70 percent lower risk for substance abuse
2. Half as likely to try cigarettes
3. Half as likely to be daily cigarette smokers
4. Half as likely to try marijuana
5. One third less likely to try alcohol
6. Half as likely to get drunk monthly
7. Likelier to get better grades in school
8. Less likely to have friends who drink alcohol and use marijuana
9. Likelier to have parents who take responsibility for teen drug use
10. Almost 40 percent likelier to say future drug use will never happen
The report's findings underscore the significance of family dinners as a
proxy for parental engagement. The problem is that many parents feel that
their schedules are too busy to allow for family dinners, or that it is too
hard to get the children to eat, together with the family, at the table. All
too often, the children want to eat in front of the television set.
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