Living Well

Linda Beech, Finney County extension agent, will help you improve your home and family life with information on raising kids, eating right, spending smart — and living well.

Family Day- a day to eat dinner with your children

Posted on : Sep 26, 2009 by Linda Beech
Filed under Family

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K-State Research and Extension is inviting families to sit down to dinner on Monday night.

Extension, the Kansas Family Partnership and Regional Prevention Centers across the state are implementing the Family Day campaign to help educate families and create awareness that regular conversations between parents, grandparents, guardians and children are a prevention tool to keep young people safe and help them make good decisions.

Research from The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University consistently finds that the more often children eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use drugs.

Family Day is a nationwide initiative to show that parental engagement is the single most effective way to prevent substance use and abuse among youth. Family Day is celebrated the fourth Monday of each September, making this year’s celebration September 28, 2009.

Dinner makes a difference

The family dinner doesn’t need to be fancy. It’s the connection, not the menu, that’s important. Just taking time to listen to your child can go a long way in building a positive relationship that could help when they may someday be faced with an offer of drugs or alcohol. Teens who seldom eat with their parents are twice as likely to report that half or more of their friends currently drink alcohol, compared to teens who have frequent family dinners.

Research shows that a child who get through age 21 without smoking, abusing alcohol or using illegal drugs is virtually certain to never do so.

The Family Day partners are encouraging businesses, faith communities, law enforcement, education centers, schools and community groups to also get involved in promoting and celebrating the Family Day event.

One of the keys of Family Day is letting the child in your life know you love and care about what is going on in their life. No one has more power to prevent kids from abusing alcohol and drugs than you do.

So, on Monday, eat dinner with your family. What your kids want- and need- for dinner is YOU.

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