Sit-down meals with family 'keep youths out of trouble'

Published on Tuesday 7 July 2009 19:16

CHILDREN who eat dinner at the table with their parents are less likely to get into trouble when they are older, according to a new academic study.

They are less prone to end up drinking or smoking, taking drugs, getting into fights, running away from home and other "problem behaviour" as adolescents, the research found.

It claimed the ritual of sitting together at the table bonds the generations and helps set youngsters on the straight and narrow.

The study – of almost 10,000 children from the age of 12 over a period of 10 years or more – is

published in the Journal of Adolescence and shows bad habits among teenagers are more common with those who did not have regular sit-down dinners.

Even increasing the number of family mealtimes by one day a week can lead to a 5 per cent improvement in teens getting into trouble, according to the study by the University of Alabama.

The researchers admit there could be many reasons why the routine of grabbing a seat and eating alongside parents and siblings can be good for character.

It added: "More frequent family meals may reduce problem behaviours by providing structure, stability, and improving family communications – which serve as protective influences against depression, anger and other psycho-social problems."

The study also found that, among US children, boys were less likely to end up joining a gang if they grew up taking part in old-fashioned family mealtimes.

They were also less likely to become violent, take part in drug-taking and binge-drinking. Girls who ate dinner with their families while growing up were less likely to smoke, drink or run away from home when they got older.