Families Who Eat Together
Posted: February 16, 2008Today, I wanted to share the findings of an interesting study conducted by Dr Blake Bowden on Cincinnati Children’s Hopsital Centre.
He and his colleagues studied 527 teenagers to learn how family and lifestyle characteristics were related to mental health and adjustment. What they found is that adolescents whose parents ate dinner with them five times or more a week were the least likely to be on drugs, be depressed or be in trouble with the law. They were more likely to be doing well in school and be surrounded by a supporttoive circle of friends.
And the benefits were seen even for families that eat together outside of home. Those who met at the fast food restuarants had the same results. By contrast, the more poorly- adjusted teens had parents who ate with them only three evenings or less a week.
Now, what do these findings mean ? Bowden’s study shows that family relationships are critically important to the well-being f adolescents. When parents often make time for their kids for conversations and interaction- in this case, while eating- then, their teens do much better in school and in life.
Study after study has emphasised the same message: Families are critically important to the well-being of children.
