Meal habits 'like in the 1970s'

Not all families have time to sit down together

Families remain as likely to eat together as they did 30 years ago, according to new research.

The findings were uncovered by University of Manchester sociologists which compared people's habits between 1975 and 2000.

In 1975, 87% of meals at home were eaten in less than 30 minutes, compared to 83% in 2000. But dinner parties did not seem to be as popular as they were.

The study was based on the responses of over 12,000 people in the UK.

The research was part of a wider study examining the habits of consumers in the UK, USA, Holland and Norway over 30 years.

The sample also involved more than 3,000 people from the USA, over 7,000 from Norway and around 4,000 from Holland.

Our research also shows that people spend less time visiting the home of others or entertaining Dr Dale Southerton

In 1975, 87% of meals at home were eaten in less than 30 minutes, while 12% lasted for 30 to 60 minutes and 1% lasted more than 60 minutes.

And it seems that little has changed over the years.

In 2000, 83% of meals at home were eaten in less than 30 minutes, while 15% lasted 30 to 60 minutes and 2% lasted more than an hour.

Despite dropping, on average, one meal eaten at home each week, the findings revealed that, contrary to popular belief, people spend as much time over each meal at home in 2000 as they did 25 years previously.

Researchers considered a range of lifestyle habits.

Green fingers

They found television viewing increased most rapidly in Holland and Norway, but remained at similar levels in the UK and had fallen in the USA.

It also emerged that people in all four countries now spend less time cooking and washing up, listening to the radio and walking.

The passion for gardening among people in the UK led to a nine minute per day increase. But figures for the other countries in the study either fell or remained the same.

Dr Dale Southerton, one of the researchers, said: "Much contemporary research points to the decline of the family meal.

"In fact, it's a common complaint that modern families have less time to spend with each other."

Dinner party decline

A Basic Skills Agency report published earlier this year suggested that the decline of the family meal was damaging children's conversational ability.

But Dr Southerton pointed out that his research told a different story.

"Our evidence says that we are just as likely to sit down to eat with our families as we would have done 30 years ago," he said.

"It is reasonable to assume that people who sit down for more than 30 minutes are most likely to do it with either their families or visitors.

"Our research also shows that people spend less time visiting the home of others or entertaining.

"That is why we can also say with some certainty that the dinner party is declining."