Newswise — University of Florida experts are available to answer questions from media members about the importance of talking with children during family meals. Compared with teens who have dinner with their families five to seven times per week, those who have more infrequent family dinners — fewer than three per week — are more than twice as likely to say they expect to try drugs in the future, according to “The Importance of Family Dinners VI,” a report issued today (Sept. 22) by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.
CASA launched a national movement called Family Day in 2001 to remind parents that frequent family dinners make a difference. It is celebrated on the fourth Monday in September; Family Day is Sept. 27 this year.
The report reveals that 72 percent of teens think eating dinner frequently with their parents is very or fairly important. Compared with teens who have frequent family dinners, those who have infrequent family dinners are:— Twice as likely to have used tobacco — Almost twice as likely to have used alcohol — One-and-a-half times likelier to have used marijuana
The report found that teens who don’t talk to their parents about what’s going on in their lives at dinner are twice as likely to have used tobacco and one-and-a-half times likelier to have used marijuana than teens who do have frequent family dinners.
The UF department of psychiatry has experts who can provide insight into these findings and the importance of engaging children in conversations about their lives, friends and school:— Scott Teitelbaum, M.D., an associate professor of pediatrics and psychiatry, medical director of the Florida Recovery Center and the division chief for addiction medicine at the College of Medicine— Kimberly White, M.D., a clinical assistant professor of child psychiatry at the College of Medicine— Daniel Tucker, M.D., the clinical chief of child and adolescent psychiatry at the College of Medicine
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