Romanians eat with their family less often than they would like to, according to a national survey conducted by Unilver’s seasoning and stock brand Delikat.

Family meals usually happen during the weekends and Romanian consumers are aware of the benefits these bring, the study found.

Romanians eat with their family on average six times a week. For couples with children, a family meal is one where the members of the basic family take part, meaning the couple and the child or children. The couple’s parents also attend family dinners or weekend get-togethers, especially if they live with them or take care of their grandchildren.

The most frequent participants at family meals are the partners (the husband and wife, the girlfriend and boyfriend), in 50% of the cases, children (43%), and the couple’s parents (44%). Sisters or brothers attend at lower rates, of 25%, followed by parents-in-law at 11%, grandparents at 10%, uncles and aunts at 8%, and daughters and sons-in-law at 6%.

In urban areas, friends also attend family meals, in 20% of the cases, as do office or school colleagues (6%), cousins (5%) or even neighbors (4%).

Most Romanians (83%) eat with their families most often during the weekends, while 17% most often during the week.

The young and adults aged 18 to 45 have lunch with their families more often than the average during the week, at 24%. The same happens for families with children, at 22%.

The weekend is dedicated to family meals, which take place more often on Sundays than on Saturdays, 53% vs. 31%.

The main family meal during the week is the dinner which is freshly prepared and contains heavier food, such as meat or French fries.

The busy lifestyle of Romanians impacts family meals. Most Romanians have dinner with their family during the week (80%), and lunch during the weekend (88%). During the day, family members eat lunch separately, at work, at school, at home, or at restaurants. These are meals eaten under time pressure as people need to get back to their activity.

At the same time, 4 in 10 Romanians have lunch with their families less often than they would like to, the study showed. The barriers to a family lunch are: the difficulty of getting family members together (55%), lack of time (39%), long work hours (38%), the lack of a regular or shared lunch schedule to encompass all family members (35%).

When having lunch with their family, Romanians feel fulfilled (73%), happy (72%), confident (61%), or calm (58%). On the other hand, when eating by themselves, they feel hurried (59%), restless (32%), stressed (28%), or tense (26%).

The study also showed than over 83% of Romanians think of family meals as important and coming with benefits such as improving the communication between family members (94%), an opportunity to spend time with the family (94%), and offering a feeling of safety and unity (91%).

The study was conducted together with ISense Solutions in two stages. The quantitative stage encompassed 640 respondents, aged 18 to 65, and living in both urban and rural areas. The qualitative stage entailed the use of a mobile app that documented for 7 days the meals of 6 families in urban and rural areas.

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editor@romania-insider.com