Brain food - Short Stuff - family dinners improve teenage mental health

Girls' Life, June, 2002

With summer here, you and the fam might not stick to a strict dinner schedule. Maybe your bro grabs tacos with the guys, you and Dad split a DiGiorno's in front of the TV, and Mom's doing salad when she gets in from the gym. But you should consider making it a point to do din-din together. A study published by the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health shows that kids who regularly share meal time with family are way less likely to seek treatment for anxiety or depression.

"Sharing daily meals is a unifying ritual that promotes adolescent mental health," the researchers say. So what are you waiting for? Get the folks to fire up the grill!