Half of Europeans eat dinner in front of the TV, similar to the Romanian average of 52%, according to an E.ON survey carried out in eight European countries.

Italians (68%) and Brits (58%) come first in the top, followed by the Romanians with 52%. They like to watch the news, movies or TV series while having dinner.

Germany, where 37% of the population turns on the TV when eating dinner, is close to the bottom of the list. Only Sweden (36%) and Hungary (33%) have lower shares than Germany. However, 23% of Germans like listening to the radio during family meals, the percentage being higher than the one reported for Romania, of 14%.

Meanwhile, 15% of Brits and Turks like to use their smartphones or tablets when eating, compared to 11% of Romanians with the same habit.

Even though reading the newspaper was once the most popular activity during breakfast, only a few people are still doing that nowadays. Currently, only 4% of Europeans read the newspaper while having breakfast.

These results are part of the "Living in Europe" survey for which E.ON and Kantar EMNID surveyed 8,000 people from Germany, Britain, Italy, the Czech Republic, Romania, Sweden, Turkey and Hungary.

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com