Daily HealthBeat Tip

Dinner time

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

There's something comforting about having the family around the dinner table. Dinner seems to enrich lives.

Research finds teens who have dinner five days a week with their parents get better grades, are less likely to try smoking, alcohol or marijuana, and are more likely to turn to their parents when they have a serious problem.

What's the magic ingredient? HHS' Assistant Secretary for Children and Families Wade Horn, who's a child psychologist, says it's conversation.

"It's a check-in time for parents to check in with their kids to get a sense of what their kids are up to � what they're thinking about." (seven seconds)

That's not always easy in the holidays � which is also gift-buying season, school report season and end-of-year business season. Who has time to cook?

But Horn says the cooking isn't the special part. It's the people.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: December 19, 2005

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