A new program to get families to eat together may have your family looking forward to its "salad days."
Family Day-A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children? is a growing national effort to prevent substance abuse in kids and teens by encouraging increased parent-child communication through the simple act of having dinner together frequently.
Most recent research by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University indicates that the more often children eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use illegal drugs.
According to CASA's The Importance of Family Dinners III, when compared to kids who have fewer than three family dinners per week, children and teens who have frequent family dinners are:
? At 70 percent lower risk for substance abuse
? Half as likely to try cigarettes
? One-third less likely to try alcohol
? Likelier to get better grades in school
? Less likely to have friends who drink alcohol and use marijuana
? Almost 40 percent likelier to say future drug use will never happen.
One Family Day sponsor, Linsey Foods, encourages families to also consider sharing in the preparation of meals for still greater interaction. Family members can take turns highlighting a favorite dish, its culinary origins and its creation, for fun.
The legendary Caesar salad offers a perfect example for family meal trivia in its rich history (created in 1924 in Tijuana, Mexico, by an Italian named Caesar, who catered to a celebrity clientele during the Prohibition) and adds a dash of performance art when you toss it tableside. ET TU Caesar Salad Kits provide all the ingredients necessary for a perfect bistro-style Caesar salad when added to fresh Romaine lettuce, allowing even the youngest family members to execute a chef's best Caesar with finesse.
"Sharing a meal is one of the best ways to connect and enjoy life together," says Doug Woolsey, who co-founded Linsey Foods with his wife Linda in 1988.
"We urge parents and children to make time for family meals and their preparation. The conversations and interactions that go with this time shared can have benefits for a lifetime."
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