Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom 73170 Thailand.
Department of Anthropology, & College of Health Sciences, University of Delaware, 46 W. Delaware Ave, Newark, DE 19716 USA.
Appetite. 2018 Jun 1;125:160-171. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2018.02.011. Epub 2018 Feb 12.
Family commensality, or meals eaten together with family members, is a key practice to understand the socio-cultural organization of eating and family lives. Yet empirical evidence is limited outside of western societies, which have different household structures, work styles, and socio-cultural constructions of the practice. This study examined frequencies of family commensality based on 242 surveys of Japanese adults aged between 20 and 85 in two metropolitan areas. Results showed that family commensality is less frequent not only among those living alone, but also among those living with only non-partners including adult children, parents, and non-family members, than among those living with partners. Full-time employment was associated with late dinner times on weekdays. Later weekday dinner times were strongly associated with reduced frequency of dinners together. Late dinners have become commonplace among full-time workers in postwar Japan, and the peak dinner time in Japan occurs later than in other developed countries. Thus, work and lifestyle constraints impacting schedules appear to influence the frequency of family commensality. Our results suggest that frequencies of family commensality are influenced by co-residents and work styles of participants rather than household sizes. The idea that reduction of household size drives reduction of family commensality may be biased by previous studies conducted in western countries where most people reside in either single or nuclear households. Our study highlights complex determinants of family commensality, beyond presence of other household members, and demonstrates a need for rigorous investigation of family commensality across cultures.
家庭共餐，即与家庭成员一起用餐，是理解饮食和家庭生活的社会文化组织的关键实践。然而，除了西方社会之外，这种实践的实证证据有限，因为这些社会具有不同的家庭结构、工作方式和社会文化构建。本研究基于对两个大都市地区 20 至 85 岁的日本成年人的 242 项调查，考察了家庭共餐的频率。结果表明，不仅独居者，而且与非伴侣（包括成年子女、父母和非家庭成员）一起生活的人，其家庭共餐频率也低于与伴侣一起生活的人。全职工作与工作日晚餐时间较晚有关。工作日晚餐时间较晚与一起用餐的频率降低密切相关。在战后日本，全职工作者的晚餐时间较晚已成为常态，而日本的晚餐高峰时间晚于其他发达国家。因此，影响日程安排的工作和生活方式的限制似乎会影响家庭共餐的频率。我们的研究结果表明，家庭共餐的频率受到参与者的共同居住者和工作方式的影响，而不是家庭规模的影响。家庭规模缩小导致家庭共餐减少的观点可能受到以前在西方国家进行的研究的影响，这些国家的大多数人居住在单身或核心家庭中。本研究强调了家庭共餐的复杂决定因素，超越了其他家庭成员的存在，并表明需要在跨文化背景下对家庭共餐进行严格调查。
