Contact: Carol Griesbach or Don Feder, 815-964-5819, 513-515-3685 cell, media@worldcongress.org

MEDIA ADVISORY, Sept. 24 /Christian Newswire/ -- By presidential proclamation, today (September 24, 2007) has been designated National Family Day. Larry Jacobs, Global Coordinator of the World Congress of Families, observed, "It's encouraging whenever a government recognizes the importance of the family – that it is the foundation of any society where social harmony reigns."

In his proclamation, President George W. Bush noted: "Families are the cornerstone of our nation. On Family Day, we underscore our dedication to strengthening America's families and recognize the importance that the bonds between parents and children hold for the future of our country."

"The president is right," Jacobs said. "Social science affirms traditional wisdom: The family is indispensable."

According to The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia, University, compared to 12- to 13-year olds who have five or more family dinners in a week, those in the same age group who don't are:

• Six times more likely to have used marijuana

• More than four and a half times likelier to have used tobacco

• More than two and a half times likelier to have used alcohol

Jacobs commented: "Other studies show that children who have strong bonds with their parents are also far less likely to engage in adolescent sex or criminal activity. They do better in school, are involved in more extracurricular activities and are more likely to stay in school and graduate – and to form stable families themselves."

"There's no substitute for the family," Jacobs concluded. "It doesn't take a village to raise a healthy child. That's the mission of the natural family."

The Natural Family: A Manifesto, a book written by Allan Carlson and Paul Mero, explains why the "natural family" is in crisis and what we can do about it.  For more information or to order the book visit us online at www.familymanifesto.com.

World Congress of Families is an international organization dedicated to protecting and advancing the natural family. To date, it has sponsored four World Congresses – in Prague (1997), Geneva (1999), Mexico City (2004) and Warsaw (2007). World Congress of Families IV (May 11-13, 2007) was attended by more than 3,400 delegates from 62 countries.

For more information on the World Congress of Families, go to www.worldcongress.org. To schedule an interview with WCF Global Coordinator Larry Jacobs, contact Carol Griesbach at 1-800-461-3113.

The World Congress of Families (WCF) is an international network of pro-family organizations, scholars, leaders and people of goodwill from more than 60  countries that seeks to restore the natural family as the fundamental social unit and the 'seedbed' of civil society.  The WCF was founded in 1997 by Allan Carlson and is a project of The Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society in Rockford, Illinois (www.profam.org).  To date, there have been four World Congresses of Families – Prague (1997), Geneva (1999), Mexico City (2004) and Warsaw, Poland (2007).