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Santa Fe County Joins CASAColumbia in Celebrating Family Day – A Day to Eat Dinner With Your Children

Santa Fe, NM – September 21, 2012 – Santa Fe County is joining the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASAColumbiaTM) to celebrate Family Day – A Day to Eat Dinner with Your ChildrenTM on September 24, 2012 to help keep children and teens free of drug, tobacco and alcohol.

At the September 11, 2012 Board of County Commissioners (BCC) meeting the board approved a proclamation joining the President, all 50 Governors and more than 1,000 cities and counties across the nation in proclaiming and supporting Family Day-A Day To Eat Dinner With Your Children TM.

Launched by CASAColumbia in 2001, Family Day is a national movement that encourages parents to frequently eat dinner with their kids and be involved in their children’s lives.

According to CASAColumbia’s report The Importance of Family Dinners VII, compared to teens who have frequent family dinners (five to seven per week), those who have infrequent family dinners (fewer than three per week) are:

• Almost four times more likely to use tobacco

• More than twice as likely to use alcohol

• Two-and-a-half times more likely to use marijuana

CASAColumbia’s research consistently finds that the more often kids eat dinner with their families, the more likely they are to get better grades in school and to say they have an excellent relationship with their parents.

For additional information about Family Day, visit www.CASAFamilyDay.org.