The Family that Eats Together…

The Church is Toronto is committed to helping parents raise their children to be healthy individuals both physically, spiritually & psychologically, equipping them for the future. To help achieve this goal we’re currently offering a class for parents of pre-teens—Sundays at 10 AM.

It might seem so simple that it’s obvious. Nevertheless it’s often worth stating the obvious. So, here goes:

Frequent Family Dinners Make a Difference in Raising Healthy, Drug-Free Teens

Jim Liebelt, Senior Editor, HomeWord, Thurs, Oct. 4, 2012

Over the past 18 years, the US National Center on Addiction & Substance Abuse has surveyed thousands of US teens and their parents to identify factors that increase or decrease the likelihood of teen substance abuse. We’ve learned that a child who gets through age 21 without smoking, using illegal drugs or abusing alcohol is virtually certain never to do so. Plus, parents have the greatest influence on whether their teens will choose to abuse drugs or alcohol.

Surveys consistently find that the more often children have dinners with their parents, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use drugs. Plus, parental engagement around the dinner table is one of the most potent tools to help parents raise healthy, drug-free children.

Frequent family dinners make a difference

The latest report, The Importance of Family Dinners VIII, examined the link between the frequency of family dinners and the quality of teens’ relationships with their parents, the frequency with which teens attend religious services and how much parents know about what’s going on in their children’s lives. These are factors linked to the likelihood of teens’ marijuana, alcohol & tobacco use. We compared teens who have frequent family dinners (5 to 7 per week), to teens who have infrequent family dinners (less than 3 per week). We found those with frequent family dinners (5 to 7 per week), are:

• One & a half times more likely to say their parents know a great deal or a fair amount about what's really going on in their lives,
• One & a half times more likely to say they have an excellent relationship with their mother & father,
• One & a half times likelier to attend religious services at least 4 times a month,
• One & a half times less likely to report high levels of stress,
• About half as likely to say they expect to try drugs in the future,
• Are currently using alcohol or drugs at significantly reduced levels than teens having infrequent family dinners.

Source: The US National Center on Addiction & Substance Abuse (CASAColumbia)