Family Dinners

by KYW's Dr. Marciene Mattleman

A growing number of studies that have looked at the relationship between frequency of families eating together and adolescent behavior suggest that family dinners have a positive effect on nutrition, mental health and stress.

Data from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, known as CASA, reveal that teenagers who eat with their families less than three times a week are more likely to use alcohol, tobacco and drugs than those who dine with their families five times weekly.

Many factors affect family patterns. Parents who work on evening shifts, lawyer parents who must bill hours, kids who play sports, others who must work-- all contribute to busy schedules.

Perhaps the national effort to get families eating together and the recession have increased the evidence that there are more family dinners--- and sitting together and talking has been shown to increase verbal abilities.

That means talking, sharing interests--- politics, sports, TV or world news-- talking with kids builds vocabulary, values and family bonding.