WELSH family life is in danger of breaking down, according to a new report.

Only three per cent of all households actually sit down to a family meal together every day - and experts predict Welsh society could suffer as a result.

Psychologist and family educational expert Peter Gilchrist said: "This is a worrying trend.

"This amounts to emotional neglect; it is no wonder young kids see their peers as bigger role models than their parents if they never have a chance to sit around and behave like a family.

"This has a direct correlation to kids trying drugs and getting involved in street crime. How can their parents have any influence over them if they don't even sit down to dinner together?"

The report follows last week's Home Office figures which revealed violent crime has risen by 12 per cent in the past year in Wales.

The National Housework and Home Appliance Survey commissioned by Whirlpool UK says the amount of families making time for a weekly meal together has fallen 10 per cent in a year. By comparison, over half of Londoners sit down to a family meal at least four to five times a week.

This statistic is in direct contrast to the image of Welsh families as strong units which come together in a crisis, such as in the film How Green Was My Valley.

The reason for the decline, said Mr Gilchrist, is because families have more stress and time pressures than ever before.

He said: "I think most families are generally unaware that anything is wrong. They pass like ships in the night because of the stresses they face in every day life.

"Mum may wait for dad to come home late from the office so she feeds the grumpy teenagers first. They are happier eating with their meals on their laps in front of the TV so she lets them do it. After all, she's got plenty of other things to think about.

"Dad comes home; mum feeds him, and she may grab something at the same time. It's a sign of family life breaking down and most people never realise they are doing it.

"Of course there's also the cop-out mentality where some parents simply don't want to sit down to a meal together, let alone with their teenage children. Everyone has had a stressful day so instead of talking or facing any arguments they prefer to watch Coronation Street together with their tea on their laps."

And the expert has some advice if your family doesn't sit down together.

"I strongly believe that families should work as a team. They should gather their team members together at least once if not twice a week for a team talk, where people can laugh, joke, air their views or simply tell the others what they're doing. The assumption that family dinners end in rows have to be changed, as the meal time can be used as an important forum time for people to communicate," he said.

"It's that communication which is vital in not only keeping the family together but society too.

"Imagine if one family is dysfunctional and doesn't talk then they are in trouble. If 20 families out of 25 households never talk then it's a dysfunctional society.

"This is about the emotional welfare of kids as much as just eating together. When the parents can't influence their children then that's when other influences such as peer pressure becomes stronger.

"That's when young kids could be introduced to drugs. If a kid feels she or he can't talk to their parents, discuss drugs at the table or talk about a TV programme they saw about drugs, then they'll get their information from older children and that can be disastrous.

"It is clear we are breeding dysfunctional groups in society, and it seems Wales could be storing up problems for the future with this behaviour."

The report said stress levels in Wales were only second to those in London, with 60 per cent of people saying their life is either quiet or very stressed.