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Continued Decline in Youth Substance Abuse

Current illicit drug use among teens is continuing to decline, according to a new report by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released today. The study also shows positive signs that teens are seeing the dangers of abusing prescription drugs and methamphetamine and are pushing back. Among youth ages 12-17, the 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), the Nation's largest substance use survey, shows that the significant decline in overall past month illicit drug use that began in 2002 continued through 2007, from 11.6 percent to 9.5 percent.

The survey, released at the start of the 19th Annual National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, shows that the reductions in youth drug use occurred for nearly every type of illicit drug including marijuana, cocaine, hallucinogens, LSD, and Ecstasy. The survey also shows dramatic declines in meth use, down by 67 percent (from 0.3% to 0.1%) and prescription drug abuse among teens, which declined overall by 18 percent, from 4 percent to 3.3 percent between 2002-2007.

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One Meal a Day Keeps the Drugs Away

Written by Jenna Bensoussan

Wednesday, 23 July 2008

(HealthDay News) -- Eating meals together as a family can reduce a teen girl's risk of turning to alcohol or drugs, a new study suggests.

In families who ate at least five meals a week together, the teen girls were much less likely to drink alcohol, or smoke marijuana or cigarettes five years later, said study author Marla Eisenberg, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Medical School.

The same effect wasn't seen for boys in this study, although Eisenberg can't say why.

"One of the key findings we have here is for girls," she said. "We found girls who had regular family meals had half the odds of initiating cigarettes, alcohol or marijuana use in the five-year time period."

Eisenberg's team followed 806 Minnesota teens, about 55 percent of them girls and 45 percent of them boys. They first surveyed the children in school in 1998 to 1999 when they were about age 13, asking how often their family ate meals together and the kids' use of substances.

The researchers followed up with a second survey five years later.

At age 18, the girls who had regular meals with their family -- defined for the study as five or more a week -- had a much lower risk of substance abuse. And the meal didn't have to be dinner, Eisenberg said.

A previous analysis of the same study participants found a stronger association for girls than boys between family meals and a lower risk of eating disorders. Yet to come is an analysis of the effect family meals have on a teen's mental health.

The findings are published in the August issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Other research by some of the same University of Minnesota researchers has revealed a link between regular family meals and a lower risk of high-risk behaviors, including violence, school problems and substance abuse in both boys and girls.

While Eisenberg can't explain why regular family meals don't seem to keep boys away from alcohol and drugs, she said parents of boys can focus on other strategies, such as having brief, ongoing conversations about the dangers of substance abuse