Family Meals Make a Difference

by Erin Roach                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Vol. XXIV, No 10, Nov/Dec 2011

Teenagers who regularly eat dinner with their parents are less likely to engage in risky behavior, according to a study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University released Sept. 22.

"Our surveys have consistently found a relationship between children having frequent dinners with their parents and a decreased risk of their smoking, drinking or using other drugs, and that parental engagement fostered around the dinner table is one of the most potent tools to help parents raise healthy, drug-free children," CASA said. "Simply put: Frequent family dinners make a difference."

Compared to teenagers who have frequent family dinners -- defined in the study as five to seven per week -- those who have infrequent family dinners are almost four times more likely to use tobacco, more than twice as likely to use alcohol, two-and-a-half times more likely to use marijuana, and nearly four times more likely to say they expect to try drugs in the future, according to the study.

"Family dinner is an ideal time to strengthen the quality of family relationships," CASA said. "Teens having frequent family dinners are more likely to report having excellent relationships with family members. As the quality of teens' relationships with their parents declines, their likelihood of using tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana rises."

William Doherty, a professor of family social science at the University of Minnesota, told ABC News that family meals are the strongest factor he has come across in any activity that families do.

"It really tops them all as a predictor and contributor of a wide range of positive behavior," Doherty, who did not participate in the study, said.

Family dinners, he said, provide teenagers with a sense of belonging as well as security and stability and facilitate communication between parents and children.

Packed schedules can inhibit frequent family dinners, but Doherty suggested starting with a Sunday night. "I recommend starting one a week," he said. "The more you do it, the better. One is better than zero."

He also recommended turning off the television, putting cell phones aside and focusing on positive communication, not nagging teenagers about their grades or other deficiencies.

[Erin Roach is an assistant editor of Baptist Press.]