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Commensal eating patterns: a community study.

Jeffery Sobal1, Mary K Nelson

  • 1Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, MVR Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA. js57@cornell.edu

Appetite
|October 11, 2003
PubMed
Summary
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Commensality, or eating with others, shows that most adults eat alone at breakfast, with coworkers at lunch, and family at dinner. Social eating primarily involves family members, reflecting a focus on the nuclear family.

Area of Science:

  • Sociology
  • Social Psychology
  • Nutritional Science

Background:

  • Commensality, the act of eating with others, offers insights into social dynamics.
  • Understanding commensal eating patterns is crucial for analyzing social relationships within communities.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate usual meal partners and the frequency of eating with others in a community sample.
  • To identify demographic variations in commensal eating habits.

Main Methods:

  • A mailed questionnaire was administered to 663 adults in a single community.
  • Data collected included usual meal partners and frequency of eating with others.

Main Results:

  • Most adults ate alone at breakfast, with coworkers at lunch, and with family at dinner.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Eating occurred most frequently at home, with limited social commensality with friends or neighbors.
  • Unmarried individuals showed distinct patterns, eating alone more often at breakfast/dinner and with friends more often.

    • Conclusions:

    • Contemporary work-oriented societies may promote solitary daytime meals and family-centered evening commensality.
    • Commensal relationships are predominantly maintained within the nuclear family structure.
    • Social networks appear to be centered around family members, who are also the primary meal partners.