Preventing substance abuse ... at the dinner table?

Want to make a difference in a kid’s life?

How about talking about it during dinner?

Monday is Family Day, a national movement launched by the national Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse in 2001 to remind parents that the parental engagement fostered during frequent family dinners is an effective tool to help keep America’s kids substance free. According to CASA, more than a decade of research has consistently found that the more often kids eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use drugs.

CASA warns that while there are no sure solutions — substance abuse can strike any family regardless of ethnicity, affluence, age or gender — the parental engagement fostered at the dinner table can be a simple, effective tool to help prevent substance abuse in kids.

Susan Glassman, family life and nutrition programming coordinator at the University of Illinois Extension office in Princeton, said the day isn’t about making a big, fancy dinner, but rather taking time to connect with each member of the family.

“I think it’s important because it teaches families that it is easier than we think to sit down and have a conversation at dinner,” she said.

Family Day began as a grassroots initiative and has grown to become a nationwide celebration. In 2007 President Bush, all 50 governors and almost 800 mayors and county executives proclaimed and supported Family Day!

According to CASA, whether you’re cooking a gourmet meal, ordering food from your favorite take-out place or eating on the go, what children really want during dinnertime is time with their parents. Family meals are the perfect time for parents to talk to their children and to listen to what’s on their minds.

According to CASA, there are seven secrets to successful family dinners:

• Start the pattern of family dinners when children are young.

• Encourage your children to create menu ideas and participate in meal preparation.

• Turn off the TV and let your answering machine answer calls during dinnertime.

• Talk about what happened in everyone’s day: School, work, extracurricular activities or current events.