Dinner for one: Why we're just too busy to eat with someone else

A third of people, 34 per cent, can go an entire week without eating a meal alongside someone else - and the average adults eat 10 of their 21 meals alone, research by The Big Lunch found.

But researchers found that the more often people eat with others, the more likely they are to be satisfied with their life and feel happy - and that joining together for a meal could be beneficial for both health and wellbeing.

The study also revealed that more than two thirds of people, 69 per cent, have never shared a meal with any of their neighbours, 37 per cent had never eaten with a community group, while a fifth of people said it had been over six months since they had shared a meal with their parents.

The Yorkshire Post has been campaigning to raise awareness of the health impact of loneliness since February 2014. It can be as damaging to health and smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

Oxford University professor of psychology, Robin Dunbar, who worked on the study, said: “The act of eating together triggers the endorphin system in the brain and endorphins play an important role in social bonding in humans. Taking the time to sit down together over a meal helps create social networks that in turn have profound effects on our physical and mental health, our happiness and wellbeing, and even our sense of purpose in life.

“But this study shows that, in the UK, we are becoming less socially engaged, with almost 50 per cent of meals eaten alone each week. 70 per cent of those questioned said they did not feel especially engaged with their local community, yet eating together did result in people feeling emotionally closer to each other.

“In these increasingly fraught times, when community cohesion is ever more important, making time for and joining in communal meals is perhaps the single most important thing we can do.”

The research also gave an insight into the lunchtime habits of workers - with more than half the workers questioned rarely or never eating lunch with their colleagues, with a large workload the most common obstacle to the communal work lunch. The average weekday lunch is eaten in just 12 minutes.

One in eight of those questioned said it had been more than six months since they’d shared a lunch with friends or family – either at their home or in a café, pub or restaurant. And a fifth of those questioned hadn’t eaten an evening meal out with a good friend or family member for more than six months.

Those over age 55 are most likely to eat alone - one in four in this age group said an evening meal with others wasn’t a usual occurrence.

The research was commissioned by the Big Lunch, an idea developed in 2009 to encourage communities to get together, and therefore reducing loneliness and isolation. Last year 7.29m people took to their streets, gardens and community spaces for the seventh annual event. This year’s event takes place on Sunday June 12.

Peter Stewart, of The Big Lunch, said: “The amount of solitary meals eaten each week is shocking, especially as the study shows that sharing food helps feelings of closeness and friendship.”