CASA, which released a report with similar findings in 1998, said in its "The Importance of Family Dinners II" study that more kids reported eating dinner with their family at least five times weekly. Those who did not were three times more likely to try marijuana, more than twice as likely to smoke, and one-and-a-half times more apt to drink alcohol.

"One factor that does more to reduce teens' substance-abuse risk than almost any other is parental engagement, and one of the simplest and most effective ways for parents to be engaged in their teens' lives is by having frequent family dinners," said Joseph A. Califano, Jr., CASA's chairman. "If I could wave a magic wand to make a dent in the substance-abuse problem, I would make sure that every child in America had dinner with his or her parents at least five times a week."

Frequent family diners also did better in school, the study said.

The study was sponsored by TV Land and Nick at Nite's Family Table.

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