Family Dinners Alive and Pretty OK in America

Between November 5 and 9, pollsters from GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media polled 1,006 American adults, asking about their household's eating habits during the previous week.  The poll was initiated by Associated Press and iVillage Food.  Polls were conducted via cell phone and landline interviews.  Their findings come with a 3.1% margin of error.

So, how are we eating these days?

More than 60% of surveyed adults said their families sat down for dinner together at least five times during the week of the survey.  Most families ate home-cooked meals but take-out meals, deliveries,and dinners away from home were also consumed.

For the most part, those home-cooked meals were the result of recipes handed down from a family member (86%).  Less often served were foods made from recipes that came from other sources, such as the TV (51%), internet (54%), and newspapers or magazines (68%).

More than half these meals were accompanied by television viewing at the table.  Telephone calls were allowed to interrupt dining during about half the meals in question.

Almost 40% of the families had the radio or stereo playing during some, but not all, the meals.

Half the families took or made telephone calls during a family meal.  Cell phone texting or emailing occurs on a regular basis for 5% of the families polled but as many as 15% said such activities are a less than rare occurrence.

Sadly, 10% of the respondents said they'd not had dinner with their family at all during the week of survey.  Work obligations was the main reason given.

Twenty percent enjoyed a  family meal at a sit-down restaurant during the survey week and 27% at a fast-food establishment.

Women out-cooked men, with 71% of the women saying they cook meals at least sometimes while only 51% of the men are doing the same.

Politics is relatively bipartisan at the family dinner table.  Sixty-five percent of the Republican households surveyed claimed to enjoy dinner as a family meal five or more times during the survey week, as did 61% of the Democrats and 60% of the independents.

In American cities, 56% of the survey respondents said they had family meals at least five nights during the survey week, compared to 63% of families in the suburbs, and 64% of families in rural America.