There has always been the assumption that family meals are a good thing for everyone, especially kids, but research with 1,492 children conducted by the University of Montreal documented high returns from the practice. Children were studied over a four-year period, starting at age 6. Those who participated in more family meals had higher levels of general fitness and lower levels of soft drink consumption, less physical aggression, reduced oppositional behavior, fewer incidents of nonaggressive delinquency, and less reactive aggression at age 10. Information was gathered from parents, teachers, and the children themselves on academic achievement, social adjustment, and lifestyle habits.