A regular family dinner can do more than feed your body, research says.

Conversation around the dinner table has been shown to increase children's vocabulary more than reading to them.

School-age children show higher test scores when they have regular family dinners, and teenagers who frequently ate with their families tended to use drugs less.

In addition to the brain-boosting abilities, children who have regular family dinners also consume more vegetables and fruits on average.

Research has shown that, on average, 88 percent of families still have dinner together, although it has fallen two percent in the past three years.

Read More:

• Science says eat with your kids (MedicalXpress)
• The death of the American family dinner has been greatly exaggerated (The Washington Post)