Family dinners cut risk of drug abuse
Those who work closely with addiction, say problems with drugs and alcohol won't be solved in the courtroom but at the dinner table. Studies show the families who meet there, cut their children's risk of substance abuse.
"I grew up that way, my family ate together every night," mother of two, Melanie O'Leary said. Now, Oleary does the same with her children. She says it may take time, but her family welcomes the opportunity to be together.
The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse deemed Monday, National Family Day, a day to eat dinner with your children. "It facilitates communication, when you're preparing supper, when you're eating supper you always have the opportunity to be able to talk to your children, whether they're elementary, middle or high school," Libertas Treatment Counselor Mary Jo Seidl said. "About how their day went and what their interests are, who their friends are."
Seidl says those dinner conversations show kids their parents care. They also set ground rules and give structure to busy lives.
"When you talk about tools for prevention of substance abuse, the communication and the consequences and the role models are just very important," Seidl said.
But she says the meal doesn't need to be fancy or time consuming to make a difference. "It's preparing ahead, maybe on Sunday sit down and think well, what nights are we going to sit down," Karen Trome with Festival Foods said. "Look at the calendar and then prepare your shopping trip."
Youth organizations also recognize the benefits of family dinners, but say not everyone can do it. "A lot of kids aren't able to sit down with their families," Meredith Imler with YouthGo said. So, the youth center serves as a second home, offering camaraderie and often a well-balanced meal. "We might ask them about their day was, or how school was, so it's not going to be like the traditional four people sitting down at a table," but Imler says the impact is the same.
A recent national survey showed 59 percent of families have dinner with their families five times a week, that's an increase from the last time the survey was taken in 1996.
Lindsay Veremis
29 September 2009
