43．The family who eats together What's the price of a family meal？For many families in the world's wealthiest countries，the answer seems to be， ‘too much'.For instance，in the United States，（1）
is often a trendsetter in such things，the majority of families report eating a single meal together fewer than five days a week.In fact，the frequency of shared meals（2）
（decrease） in American families by 33 per cent over the last twenty years.The meals（3）
（they） have shortened too：from an average of 90 minutes to just 12 minutes.
So perhaps we're better off asking ourselves（4）
the cost of not eating together is.Once again，we could turn to the figures.The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has found that 15-year-olds who reported not regularly（5）
（share） family meals were twice as likely to be absent from school.In Europe，research has suggested that children who don't eat dinner with their parents at least twice a week face a 40 per cent higher risk of fatness.Another study，（6）
（conduct） by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse （濫用） at Columbia University，found that kids who eat dinner with their parents five or more times a week are（7）
（likely） to have problems with drugs and alcohol.
But those numbers，impressive（8）
they seem，may be beside the point.After all，having a meal together is more than just a preventive measure（9）
future misfortune.The primary cost of the family meal is also the very thing that makes it important：time.
The time spent together over food leads to all the positive outcomes that are measured in the studies.That time spent together has less noticeable — but no less real — effects too.So often，（10）
is at the family meal that the family as such — the family as an organic unit with shared memories and feelings and ambitions — is made.
