Family Meals May Trump Drugs and Alcohol
For teen girls, study finds, daily ritual halves risk of substance abuse

(HealthDay News) -- A family that eats together might be protecting its daughters from dangerous vices.

Researchers have found that teenage girls whose families eat dinner together at least five times a week are less likely to turn to alcohol, drugs or cigarettes.

Curiously, though, family meals appear to have no such effect on teenage boys, according to the study, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health .

"One of the key findings we have here is for girls," the study's author, Marla Eisenberg, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Medical School, told HealthDay . "We found girls who had regular family meals had half the odds of initiating cigarettes, alcohol or marijuana use in the five-year time period."

Teenagers turn to drugs and alcohol for a variety of reasons, according to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, a nonprofit group based in Washington , D.C. One reason is that they see other people doing it, and not just their peers. If teens see their parents abusing alcohol, for instance, they might view that behavior as normal.

Other reasons, the groups says, include an attempt to escape problems, boredom, rebellion, a quick boost, low self-esteem and misinformation about drugs and alcohol. It adds that TV shows and movies can contribute to distorted views by showing teens using drugs or alcohol but not following up on potential consequences of that behavior.

Eisenberg's study included 806 Minnesota teens, slightly more girls than boys, who were first surveyed at age 13. Five years later, the researchers followed up with a second survey on drug and alcohol use, as well as family meal patterns.

They found that girls who regularly dined with their families -- for breakfast, lunch or dinner -- were much less likely to have turned to drugs or alcohol.

It's not clear, Eisenberg said, why family meals didn't have the same positive effect on boys.

Steve Pasierb, president and chief executive of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, told HealthDay that, besides eating together, regularly talking to your children can help them avoid substance abuse.

"You need to be having a series of frequent, brief conversations," Pasierb said. "Your kids are faced with the drug issue on a day-in, day-out basis."

And he urged parents to not wait too long to begin those discussions.

"The average age of first drug use is 14," he said. The group has two Web sites that offer help in starting such conversations: www.drugfree.org and www.timetotalk.org.

It's also important to know the kids your child wants to be around, as well as their parents, Pasierb said. And it's a good idea to check to make sure the other parents are home when kids say they're heading to a friend's house, he suggested.

Also try not to miss out on the "teachable moments," he said. For example, if you're in the car with your son or daughter and you hear on the radio that a Hollywood star or pro athlete is about to enter rehab, ask what your child thinks about that. The answer, he said, will offer insight into what the teen is thinking.

On the Web

To learn more about teenagers' emotional health, visit the American Academy of Family Physicians.

SOURCES: HealthDay News ; Marla Eisenberg, Sc.D., M.P.H., assistant professor, pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; Steve Pasierb, president, Partnership for a Drug-Free America, New York City; August 2008, Journal of Adolescent Health ; Partnership for a Drug-Free America (www.drugfree.org)
Author: Serena Gordon
Publication Date: July 31, 2009
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