Study finds family meals can help teen girls avoid drugs, alcohol

phr

phr

Bluelighter
Joined
May 25, 2004
Messages
36,678
Location
St. Charles, IL
Study finds family meals can help teen girls avoid drugs, alcohol
PressConnect.com
7.30.08


Eating meals together as a family can reduce a teen girl's risk of turning to alcohol or drugs, a new study suggests.
Advertisement

In families who ate at least five meals a week together, the teen girls were much less likely to drink alcohol, or smoke marijuana or cigarettes five years later, said study author Marla Eisenberg, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Medical School.

The same effect wasn't seen for boys in this study, although Eisenberg can't say why.

"One of the key findings we have here is for girls," she said. "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."

Eisenberg's team followed 806 Minnesota teens, about 55 percent of them girls and 45 percent of them boys. They first surveyed the children in school in 1998 to 1999 when they were about age 13, asking how often their family ate meals together and the kids' use of substances.

The researchers followed up with a second survey five years later.

At age 18, the girls who had regular meals with their family - defined for the study as five or more a week - had a much lower risk of substance abuse. And the meal didn't have to be dinner, Eisenberg said.

A previous analysis of the same study participants found a stronger association for girls than boys between family meals and a lower risk of eating disorders. Yet to come is an analysis of the effect family meals have on a teen's mental health.

The findings are published in the August issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Other research by some of the same University of Minnesota researchers has revealed a link between regular family meals and a lower risk of high-risk behaviors, including violence, school problems and substance abuse in both boys and girls.

While Eisenberg can't explain why regular family meals don't seem to keep boys away from alcohol and drugs, she said parents of boys can focus on other strategies, such as having brief, ongoing conversations about the dangers of substance abuse.

-- HealthDay

Link!
 
From obviousnews.com

Who would have thought that being a good parent works?! Hell, it seems to even work better than drug laws. Wow, it blew my mind. :\
 
You're right it doesn't.


But a healthy relationship between a parent and child may play a factor here. At least IMO, I think it does.
 
^the factor IMO is that females are more influenced by socialization than males. which of course has already been shown many times over in the literature
 
I don't for one second doubt there's a causal link between having family meals (and actually talking with your kids, and being a parent) and less drug use.
 
They did this "study" about 2 years ago and it "worked" for boys too. The research grant scammers scored twice with this particular ruse, and I guess the people "granting" our money don't care too much about that, lol.
 
It's hard to say. I think the mind-set that leads one to explore the world of drugs is an experimental one: the same qualities that lead people to new frontiers (the Western World, outer space, the ocean trenches, etc.) in societal exploration also lead them to experiment with the frontiers of consciousness.

And it's here that there are many pitfalls along the way: addiction, overdose, the repeated-use trap, etc.

So a parent may teach open-mindedness and a certain level of risk-taking (the what's worthwhile in life that doesn't involve risk? mantra), but this may manifest in the child as addiction. I know this is what happened to me. In the midst of pot, LSD, a little heroin, and a slew of RC's, I became addicted to cocaine.

I was an only child, so I always had dinner with my parents. They were great, yet I still became a drug addict. I would say that good parenting (however it can be defined) is tangential to the genetic forces that mold us. I mean, there's a lot more to say here, but I can't type fast enough... :D
 
yeah, me too, but neither of us can be considered the norm in the drug using society.

I suspect that among drug users who come from quality families, better outcomes occur (as they seem to have in our cases).
 
^^^^ I have to agree. Both of us are definitely not normal, lol... =D
 
^
Right. I don't think we can get a definitive answer. Addiction is a very individual subject. It happens for various reasons, and to people coming from all walks of life... Hell, we aren't even sure if it's a disease or how strong the genetic factor truly is.

But, I think the correlation is there. And it really can't hurt to be a good parent.
 
I suspect that among drug users who come from quality families, better outcomes occur (as they seem to have in our cases).
Click to expand...
Yes, good families or a shit load of money. They do an addict good.
 
^^^^ No no. Always be a good parent, if only that it's the right thing to do.
 
I absolutely disagree with this study. Their "data" was probably skewed by the area they were in or something, because myself and many of my friends sit down to a family meal almost every night, and all of us are drinking, smoking, and using other drugs.

What a buncha bullshit.

IMO, the only thing that can keep kids off drugs is being born with no curiosity and a high level of self restraint and control.
 
What's with people saying curiosity leads to addiction? (And I'm not coming at you anon1419, just in general)

Curiosity never got anyone addicted. It got them to try it, but curiosity didn't make you suck dick for coke. Just sayin'
 
as I think about how I'll raise my son, I wonder about this. Do I say "don't do anything at all ever" because that's the right thing to say considering that we've got three generations of addicts and alcoholics going already, and one more doesn't help anything?

Or... Do I keep an open mind and accept that he's gonna be curious and emplore caution?

I mean, no one ever became addicted to something they hadn't used, and no one can tell me that an addicted life is as good as a non-addicted one.

(fuck you all who say that 'emplore' is obsolete, btw. I like it just fine).
 
Being high and eating a awesome family meal is pretty, well awesome.

btw while in High School I ate meals with the family almost every night during the week.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top