Straight Dope for Parents

Eat Meals Together

Frequent family dining is associated with lower rates of teen smoking, drinking, illegal drug use and prescription drug abuse. As the number of days a week that parents have dinner with their children goes up, the risk that those children will get involved with tobacco, alcohol or drugs goes down.

For more information, visit the Family Day website:

  Learn more about the importance
of family dinners:

•   The Importance of Family Dinners IV (2007) (PDF, 321 KB) 
  
•   The Importance of Family Dinners III
  (2006) (PDF, 300 KB)
  
•   The Importance of Family Dinners II (2005) (PDF, 251 KB) 
  
•   The Importance of Family Dinners (2003) (PDF, 443 KB) 

Source: The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, 2007 (PDF, 321 KB)

To learn more about what eating meals together can do for your family, read the book.