The family dinner, and better grades?

Last month ABC news ran a story about a survey that found teens in families who have regular family dinners 5 times a week are more likely to have better grades at school, and are less likely to drink alcohol, smoke, and try drugs.

The results of the survey are interesting, of course the survey results speak more to the nature of a family who is a dedicated to a regular family dinner, rather than to the meal itself. Growing up in Jordan in the 80s, the family lunch (the main meal in Jordan) was considered something sacred, you'd only miss it if there were some extraordinary circumstances. People today are on such hectic schedules with working late, working multiple jobs, kids activities, that such an important daily event is often overlooked. This leads me to wonder, is the Jordanian family structure still as tightly knit as it used to be? Especially in the ever diminishing middle-class families.