{"id":6282,"date":"2010-03-16T21:27:01","date_gmt":"2010-03-16T21:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=6282"},"modified":"2010-03-18T16:56:04","modified_gmt":"2010-03-18T16:56:04","slug":"the-importance-of-family-dinners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2010\/03\/the-importance-of-family-dinners\/","title":{"rendered":"The Importance of Family Dinners"},"content":{"rendered":"

CASA REPORT FINDS TEENS WHO HAVE INFREQUENT FAMILY DINNERS LIKELIER TO DRINK, SMOKE, USE MARIJUANA
\nCompared to teens who have frequent family dinners (five or more per week), those who have infrequent family dinners (fewer than three per week) are twice as likely to use tobacco or marijuana; more than one and a half times likelier to use alcohol; and twice as likely to expect to try drugs in the future, according to The Importance of Family Dinners V, a new report by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.
\nThe CASA report also found that compared to teens who have frequent family dinners, those who have infrequent family dinners are more than twice as likely to be able to get marijuana in an hour and one and a half times likelier to be able to get prescription drugs to get high within an hour.
\nThe report reveals that compared to teens who have frequent family dinners without distractions at the table (talking or texting on a cell phone, using a Blackberry, laptop or Game Boy), those who have infrequent family dinners and say there are distractions at the table, are three times likelier to use marijuana and tobacco, and two and a half times likelier to use alcohol.
\nThe report also found that compared to teens who have five to seven family dinners per week, those who have fewer than three family dinners per week are:
\n\u2022 Twice as likely to have friends who use marijuana and Ecstasy;
\n\u2022 More than one and a half times likelier to have friends who drink, abuse prescription drugs, and use Meth; and
\n\u2022 Almost one and a half times likelier to have friends who use illegal drugs like cocaine, acid and heroin.
\n\u201cThe magic of the family dinner comes not from the food on the plate but from who\u2019s at the table and what\u2019s happening there.\u00a0 The emotional and social benefits that come from family dinners are priceless,\u201d said Elizabeth Planet, CASA\u2019s Vice President and Director of Special Projects.\u00a0 \u201cWe know that teens who have frequent family dinners are likelier to get A\u2019s and B\u2019s in school and have excellent relationships with their parents.\u00a0 Having dinner as a family is one of the easiest ways to create routine opportunities for parental engagement and communication, two keys to raising drug-free children.\u201d
\nFamily Dinners and Parental Attitudes and Behaviors on Alcohol
\nThe report found that compared to teens who have five to seven family dinners per week, those who have fewer than three family dinners per week are more than one and a half times likelier to have seen their parent(s) drunk and to think their father is okay with them drinking.
\nTeens who think their fathers are okay with their drinking are likelier to drink and get drunk than teens who believe their fathers are against their drinking.\u00a0 Teens who have seen their parent(s) drunk are likelier to drink, get drunk, and try cigarettes and marijuana, compared to teens who have not seen their parent(s) drunk.\u00a0
\nThe Family Dinner
\n\u201cOver the past decade and a half of surveying thousands of American teens and their parents, we\u2019ve learned that the more often children have dinner with their parents, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use drugs.\u00a0 I urge parents to arrange their schedules and the outside activities so that they can have frequent family dinners.\u00a0 If they do so, they\u2019ll discover what a difference dinner makes.\u201d\u00a0 Says Joseph Califano.
\nOther Notable Findings
\n\u2022 Compared to 12- and 13-year olds who have frequent family dinners, those who have infrequent family dinners are six times likelier to use marijuana, four times likelier to use tobacco, and three times likelier to use alcohol.
\n\u2022 Compared to teens who attend religious services at least weekly, those who never attend services are more than twice as likely to try cigarettes, and twice as likely to try marijuana and alcohol.
\n\u2022 Compared to teens who have frequent family dinners, those who have infrequent family dinners are one and a half times likelier to report getting grades of C or lower in school.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Source:www.casacolumbia.org New York, NY, September 23, 2009 \u2013<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CASA REPORT FINDS TEENS WHO HAVE INFREQUENT FAMILY DINNERS LIKELIER TO DRINK, SMOKE, USE MARIJUANA Compared to teens who have frequent family dinners (five or more per week), those who have infrequent family dinners (fewer than three per week) are twice as likely to use tobacco or marijuana; more than one and a half times […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-parents"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6282\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}