Researchers from Columbia University say that there are numerous psychological, sociological and biological benefits of a nightly family dinner. This has been found to actually reduce teen pregnancies, drug and substance abuse, suicide, and to increase test scores in students.
The reason for this is that this is a time for the family to have conversations that can lead to life lessons. These life lessons instill values and a sense of closeness and belonging that cannot be compared. It is too easy for people to say they just don’t have the time to get the family together for a meal.
It is very important that people make the time by making the commitment to be present when a family dinner is taking place. The meal itself does not have to be a gourmet style; it is about being together and making the promise to be there. It will strengthen families and this is where the catalyst for change comes in.
It has proven through studies that families that spend time together have more well-rounded kids and this is how kids get the power to say no to drugs and to premature sex. This is what gives kids the initiative to want to study harder for tests and to do better in school. Family meals are an important opportunity to develop strong parent-child relationships and family connectedness.
Participating in family meals can encourage positive behavior and improved physical and mental health. Too often excuses mount up for why everything else becomes more important than spending time together. Kids and teens will say dinner doesn’t work for their schedules, they don’t like what is being cooked, or they simply don’t like the conflict that family meals can bring about. Parents are just too busy.
Eating family dinners at least five times a week drastically lowers a teen’s chance of smoking, drinking, and using drugs. Teens who have fewer than three family dinners a week are 3.5 times more likely to have abused prescription drugs and to have used illegal drugs other than marijuana, three times more likely to have used marijuana, more than 2.5 times more likely to have smoked cigarettes, and 1.5 times more likely to have tried alcohol, according to a CASA report.
So the next time that you think you might be too busy to schedule a family dinner you may want to think again because in the long run the numbers speak for themselves.
