Dinners Make the Difference- A Step Toward a Healthy Family

Do you want better family relationships and less issues to contend with in your family? We have mentioned it before.  In 2006 we provided the first information that appeared in this blog about family dinner and at-at risk behavior (Look Who’s Coming to Dinner).  Then we discussed it again last year in relationship to Family Day. Now we are at it again because we believe this is such critical information for the health of your family.

It is Family Day on Monday, September 28, 2009.  In preparation for that day, new research was released in August of this year once again affirming the importance of eating together as a family without distractions at least 5 times a week.    The research shows that grades go up, relationships strengthen and at-risk behavior goes way down.  The problem is 69% of us are not doing this.  Here is a summary of some of the findings:

1. Young people who eat less than 4 family meals together regularly are twice as likely to use marijuana,  1.5 times as likely to use alcohol and 1.5 times more likely to see their parents drunk.  Of which, 34% have seen their parents intoxicated.
2. In addition to that if they have less than 4  family meals and texting, twittering, facebooking or talking on phone occurs during this time, those percentages jump to a 3 times more likely hood of marijuana use and 2.5 times more chance of using alcohol.
3. Young people who have less than 4 family meals together are 1.5 times more likely to have grade problems.
4. Young people with less than 4 family meals together are twice as likely to say they can’t talk with their parents,  more likely to have relationship problems in the family and less likely to attend religious services.

All in all the message is clear.  Eat together as a family and make your dinner table a no technology zone.

To help you with this we at the LOGOS Ministry offer three years of weekly preplanned family nights, with meal  and conversation suggestions,  to help begin the process of eating as a family and spending time together.  We call it LOGOS at Home/Family Round the Table and you can find it here .  A sample of this is found every month in our parenting newsletter, Heartfelt, under the link Family Round the Table.

We know it is a busy world with lots of obligations and distractions but besides our relationship with God what could be more important than a strong, healthy family?  So turn off the technology, sit down together and listen to each other.  You will be glad you did!  I know  it has been a benefit to our family.

You can see a  complete copy of the Study from Columbia University here.