health

Eating with Family Helps Teen Health

By Wes Rickards
CBN News Assoc. Producer

CBN.com – (CBN News) - A new study shows that a simple way for parents to help their teens is to have dinner with them.

Eating dinner with the family -- the bane of meatloaf-hating kids everywhere. But a new study shows that eating together as a family actually is good for teens, and not just in a healthy, nutritious sort of way.

Columbia University researchers noticed that teens who sat down to have dinner with their families at least five times a week were significantly less likely to get involved in drugs.

They were 42 percent less likely to drink alcohol, 59 percent less likely to smoke cigarettes, and 66 percent less likely to try marijuana than those teens who ate dinner with their parents less than three times a week.

But that's not all. That daily meal helps in other ways, too. The teens surveyed also reported they had higher grades in school, stronger friendships, and better relationships with their parents.

Dr. David Elkind of Tufts University commented, "Having that regular meal time that they can count on, that their parents are there for support, that can be very helpful."

Dinner builds the bridge of communication between parents and kids, and lets teens know there is an adult figure in their lives who is there for them.

"We try to talk about daily events,” said dad Tom Boak. “What's happened at school, what's happened at soccer, work. That sort of thing."

But with so many activities for kids, and sometimes both parents working, dinnertime can be a scheduling nightmare.

Some say that just highlights the importance of family dinners even more, since it could be the only time that families have together.

And that Columbia study parallels a Harvard study, which says that dinnertime is the most important family event, when it comes to helping children develop language skills.

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