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About Family Day

Family Day — A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children™ is a national movement to remind parents that what their kids really want at the dinner table is THEM! Family Day encourages parents to frequently eat dinner with their kids and be involved in their children’s lives. The conversations that go hand-in-hand with dinner help parents learn more about their kids’ lives and helps them to better understand the challenges their kids face.

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA*) at Columbia University launched Family Day in 2001 after CASA’s research consistently found that the more often children eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use drugs. Family Day is celebrated on the fourth Monday in September.

The benefits of frequent family dinners

CASA’s 2006 report The Importance of Family Dinners III found that compared to kids who have fewer than three family dinners per week, children and teens who have 5-7 family dinners per week are:

At 70 percent lower risk for substance abuse;
Half as likely to try cigarettes or marijuana,
One third less likely to try alcohol;
Half as likely to get drunk monthly.

Kids who frequently eat dinner with their families are also likelier to have better grades and confide in their parents.

It is never too early to start the family dinner tradition. Begin making family dinners a regular feature of your daily routine today!

Other Steps You Can Take to Help Prevent Your Kids From Abusing Substances

Regular family dinners aren’t the only way to help keep your kids substance free. Here are some other important things you can do:

Set a good example.

Know your child’s whereabouts, activities and friends.

Set fair rules and hold your child to them.

Maintain open lines of communication.

Surround your child with positive role models.

Learn the signs and symptoms of teen substance abuse and conditions that increase risk.

Family Day Fact Sheet/2006 Summary