Want to Keep Kids Off Drugs? Eat Dinner Together

It's Family Day today, a day to sit down to eat with your family as part of a campaign mounted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) to publicize the fact that regularly eating family dinner helps keep teens off drugs. The campaign aims to remind parents "that what your kids really want at the dinner table is YOU!"

We've all been told eating dinner together as a family is a good thing, but I'd wager that most people don't realize the laundry list of positive benefits associated with the practice, especially for the healthy development of children and teens. Not only do kids who frequently eat family dinner display better nutrition, behavior, and academic performance, but teens who regularly sit down with their families are more apt to stay away from high-risk behaviors, like taking drugs and alcohol.

Teens who eat family dinner fewer than three times a week are twice as likely to smoke cigarettes or marijuana and more than one-and-a-half times as likely to drink alcohol as teens who eat with their families five to seven times per week, according to researchers at CASA (PDF).

The habit of eating together helps families stay cohesive and supportive. It also improves kids' outlook on the future and attitude toward school. Not to mention, involving kids in the food preparation process helps them learn proper nutrition and healthy eating habits.

This is such a positive parenting practice because, as CASA puts it, “parental engagement" is "fostered during frequent family dinners."

CASA is marketing the Family Day campaign via posters, brochures, public service announcements, and other materials, and has made a "Family Dinner Kit" that involves activities for kids, a menu planner, and a list of conversation starters.

Participants can also pledge to become a Family Day STAR by committing to:

• S- Spend time with my kids by having dinner together
• T- Talk to them about their friends, interests, and the dangers of drugs and alcohol
• A- Answer their questions and listen to what they say
• R- Recognize that I have the power to help keep my kids substance free!

The site also lists "the 7 secrets to successful family dinners":

1. Start the pattern of family dinners when children are young
2. Encourage your children to create menu ideas and participate in meal preparation
3. Turn off the TV and let your answering machine answer calls during dinnertime
4. Talk about what happened in everyone’s day: school, work, extracurricular activities or current events
5. Establish a routine to start and end each meal.  Light candles or tell a story
6. After dinner play a board game or serve dessert to encourage the family to continue the conversation
7. Keep conversation positive and make sure everyone gets a chance to speak

Whether you've never done family dinner before but are interested in the benefits or have always meant to do it but can never seem to find the time, tonight's the night to give it a shot. If you're not inspired enough by the Family Day campaign, take a look at the Thanksgiving scene in the movie The Blind Side and tell me that doesn't make you want to sit down together and eat.

Photo credit: lori05871 via Flickr