Social Eating & The Importance of Companionship
Article by Jessica Noon
Social eating or communal eating is commonplace in most of our lives whether this be at home with family or in restaurants with friends. Communal eating may be historic in origin but seems to be becoming less valued in modern day. Eating with one’s family and friends used to be a daily ritual that was considered as compulsory in most households, but it is now a common sociological assumption that our modern-day cultures are becoming detraditionalised in favour of more individualised routines. So, is communal eating simply a product of the efficiency of bulk cooking or does it stem from a need for social interaction and emotional support?
It is clear that we still love to socialise and go out to meals and cafes. Sharing a meal with friends and family seems to be the first thing we think of when we want to celebrate but what has happened to the day-to-day family mealtimes that used to dominate UK homes?
How has Communal Eating Changed?
Social and cultural changes have led to several lifestyle and household developments.
Over the last 100 years, household roles have changed drastically. It is now common that both parents in a household work, with more females choosing to have careers rather than being stay at home mothers. In addition, parents now tend to work longer hours due to work demands and professional expectations increasing the reliance on childminders, nurseries and babysitters.
More recently, the Covid-19 pandemic has also had an additional impact on the dynamic of household mealtimes. Stay at home regulations and the resultant increase in working from home has created a vagueness in the start and end to working days. This has meant that people are often now swapping family breakfasts for ‘deskfasts’ and eating lunch and dinner in front of their computer screens to grab that extra hour of working time.
In addition to the household roles of parents changing, children have also had changes to the roles within the home. It is now common for children and adolescents to participate in multiple extra-curricular activities after school. As children age, family mealtimes often become less important in comparison to homework and going out with friends and then adding to this further, when children become students they will likely leave the familial home for job opportunities or university.
It is not only the dynamic of a ‘typical family’ that has changed but also the number of these typical families. There has recently been a significant increase in the number of people choosing to stay single and therefore living alone. Alongside those choosing to live alone, there are an increased number of widowers stemming from a higher life expectancy in women, which further contributes to the number of single person households.
All of these household factors are contributing to the decline in communal meals now, but how is this impacting us both as a community and individually? There are four main categories by which we can highlight the impact of communal eating. These categories are; nutritional, mental, social and developmental.
The Importance of Communal Eating
Nutritional:
When meals are prepared for a communal purpose either for family or friends, they are generally more widely varied and are prepared using a variety of ingredients. In comparison to those eating alone, there is a higher dependence on ready meals, takeaways or repetitive meals. This reliance on meals for ease is correlated to consuming less fruits and vegetables.
Nutritional deficiencies are of greater significance in the ageing community. Elderly members of the community who live alone, a concurrent decline in appetite and increase in frailty contributes significantly to the lack of nutritional variety and can even lead to malnutrition. The importance of communal eating in older communities has been highlighted further by the implementation of communal eating groups, where the primary aim is to provide company for the lonely elderly at mealtimes.
Nutritional implications does not just mean what is being eaten, but also what information is being imparted. Family mealtimes are a time for child education regarding eating nutritionally balanced meals and choosing food intuitively. If children and adolescents are left to prepare their own meals and eat alone, they will often eat less nutritionally and are unlikely to develop a good understanding of preparing balanced meals.
As has been previously mentioned, the mindset of cooking for one is generally one of ease over substance. This results in less nutritionally rich meals that are lacking in fruits, vegetables and healthy fats.
Mental:
Mealtimes are often a time for friends and family members to have discussions and share worries and problems. This time of daily discussion, reflection and socialisation has been suggested to ease daily concerns and alleviate stress and depression long-term. When considering the detrimental effects of always eating alone, it has been closely correlated with increased risk of depression and even suicidal ideations. The elimination of shared mealtimes also eliminates the access to someone with whom they can share their concerns and worries in turn leading to these being bottled up and excessive contemplation on daily problems.
We have previously considered companionship during mealtimes for the elderly and the nutritional impact, but there are also considerable mental impacts for this demographic. For those eating alone, they are often lacking discussion and emotional support. In the long-term, this lack of support and conversation can lead to rapid cognitive decline and a significant drop in health-related quality of life.
Not only does eating alone decrease socialisation but is also likely to increase time spent looking at screens, whether this be a television, computer or mobile phone. This form of distraction can reduce the pleasure of mealtime, distract people from their satiety signals consequently leading to eating past the point of fullness and dulling the senses.
Social:
Shared mealtimes involve shared conversation and the emotional support provided during this time has been connected to improving the quality of an individual’s life. Sharing a meal has been suggested to positively impact the intimacy and closeness of a relationship through the sharing of worries and problems, the openness of the discussion and the sharing in one meal.
Meals eaten together generally include not only conversation but also laughter and reminiscing. These pastimes are known to be associated with the release of endorphins which can not only make mealtimes themselves more enjoyable but improve general mood throughout the rest of the day.
Within a family, sharing at least one meal a day has been associated with improved family communication and functioning. Children are generally more forthcoming with family members when they share daily quality time when presented with challenges and problems.
Developmental:
The developmental impact of social eating works in both the direction of cognitive development during childhood and the decline of cognitive functioning as we age.
Children are continuously learning from others how to behave and act in certain situations; mealtimes are a perfect example of this. Mealtimes impart knowledge on not only eating habits and norms but also imparts knowledge on the correct etiquette when speaking with others and participating in conversations and group activities.
Regarding the elderly population, rapid cognitive decline is correlated to minimal social interaction. Many of the elderly population now live alone due to the ageing population and therefore spend a considerable amount of their time alone. Mealtimes are an opportunity to participate in conversation, help to prepare meals and eat a balanced diet. All these factors help to minimise frailty and physical and cognitive decline.
We can see the importance of communal meal times implemented in ‘blue zones.’ Blue zones are the areas of the world where we can see the greatest number of centenarians, you can read more about these in the following blog: ‘Lessons We Can Learn from the Blue Zones.’ One of the keys to longevity and contentedness in blue zones is the importance placed on communities and social interaction whether this be through relationships, neighbourhood communities or friendships.
Summary
In summary, social interaction that occurs at mealtimes is unlike most other social interactions. Sharing a meal whilst also making conversation often helps to break down communication barriers by providing a distraction. The distraction and openness of a shared meal can serve to provide emotional support, teach social norms and maintain cognitive function whilst also generally improving mood. The communal meal is in decline throughout many cultures, but we should all be putting more effort into eating together at least once a day to benefit both mental and physical health.
This blog post was written by Jessica Noon @noontrition, a master’s Dietetics student at Manchester Metropolitan University. Jessica holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from The University of Sheffield and a postgraduate certificate in human nutrition from The University of Chester. Jessica has particular research interests in the areas of intuitive eating and gut health. Personally, Jessica loves to run and bake.
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