Programs & Services > Family
VIEW THE PODCASTS:
Family Meals - English
Family Meals - Hindi-Punjabi
Family Meals - Hmong
Family Meals - Russian
Family Meals - Spanish
Family Meals - Introduction to Series in English
What's the big deal about Family Meals?
Since 1998, research by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University has consistently shown that teens who have frequent family dinners are at half the risk for substance abuse compared to teens who dine with their families infrequently.
People Reaching Out has developed a series of Family Meals podcasts advocating to the culturally diverse communities of the Sacramento region the importance of sharing family meals at home. This project was made possible through a partnership with Crossings TV - the regions exclusive broadcast network providing television programming to a variety of immigrant communities under-served by traditional television.
Children and teens that have 5-7 family dinnners per week are:
> At a 70 % lower risk for substance abuse
> 1/2 as likely to try cigarettes or marijuana
> 1/3 less likely to try alcohol
> 1/2 as likely to get drunk monthly
> Are more likely to have better grades and confide in their parents
*According to a 2006 National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse report