Social nourishment. We’re fed more than food and meal-memories when we eat with others. It may also lower your odds of overeating and becoming overweight or obese.
—By Deborah Kesten
I vividly remember the moment I realized I had “Solo Dining” tendencies—one of the seven overeating styles my husband, behavioral scientist Larry Scherwitz, PhD, and I, identified in our research on Whole Person Integrative Eating (WPIE).¹ ² At the time, we were at Heinrich-Heine, a medical university in Düsseldorf, Germany, where we’d been invited to do research on lifestyle (diet, stress management, exercise, and group support) and heart disease.
After several months, when we had become good friends with some colleagues, we heard a knock on our office door around lunchtime. “We’re going to the cafeteria for lunch,” said Siegfried. “Would you like to join us?” Instantly, we stopped clicking away at our computers, put our homemade soup and salad away, gathered our coats, and walked through the wintry campus with three coworkers to the building that housed the cafeteria.
When we arrived, we were greeted by the delightful hum of students’ energetic conversations as they waited in line to choose their food. After our leisurely lunch, convivial conversation with our coworkers, and another chance to walk and talk in the fresh, crisp air, we all returned to work. We would repeat this welcome ritual with our friends many times during the two years we worked in Europe. Upon reflection, I can’t help but think how atypical such a social dining scenario has become for many Americans. After all, don’t most of us eat by ourselves more often than not?
Solo Dining and Your Weight
Do you see yourself in any of these “new normal,” solo dining experiences? Eating a burger, fries, or pizza by yourself while working? Driving home at night while munching a muffin or chips from a nearby convenience store. Or having a secret, private “zone out” in front of the TV with a pint of ice cream and a bag of chips. Not only does our research on the overeating styles shed light on the social isolation that often surrounds food and dining in the U.S., but it also links it with the increased likelihood of overeating.¹As with our research findings, more and more studies, worldwide, are discovering that those who eat by themselves—from children to the elderly—are at increased odds of being obese.
Solo Dining and Obesity: It’s an International Trend
If you typically eat alone, you’ve got lots of company (no pun intended). The statistics on the Solo Dining overeating style are nothing less than daunting: As much as 10 years ago, surveys revealed that the eat-alone trend was escalating: 30 to 40 percent of American families were not eating together most of the time. Today, nearly half—46 percent of adults—eat by themselves. The escalating eat-alone trend is a growing concern, because more and more studies are supporting our discovery about the Solo Dining overeating style and its link to being overweight and obese.
- Researchers in Japan found that eating alone, coupled with living alone, are jointly associated with higher risk of obesity and unhealthy eating behaviors (translation: consuming lots of fast, processed, junk food) in both men and in women.³
- In a U.S. study with 8,459 kindergarten children, those who watched TV during dinner—instead of eating family meals while having convivial conversation—were more likely to be overweight by the time they were in third grade.⁴
- A two-year study out of Korea revealed that the obesity rate of those who ate all three meals—breakfast, lunch, and dinner—by themselves was 1.4 times higher than those who ate all meals with others.⁵ Yet another study from Korea showed a clear correlation between lone diners in their 20s and their being obese.⁶
The message is clear: More and more studies are revealing that if you practice the Solo Dining overeating style—as millions do globally—you’re at risk for overeating and becoming overweight or obese.
From Solo Dining to Social Nourishment
I interpret this disheartening data about escalating solitary eating and increased risk for piling on pounds as an opportunity, a chance to make small social changes while eating that have the potential to lead to big mind-body health and weight benefits. Here, a few recipes for social nourishment. Some are quick and easy; others take more time. The choice is yours.
Invite a person to share fare with you. Take a break. At work, ask a coworker to join you for a cup of coffee or a snack. Or eat with one or more coworkers when it’s lunch time.
Orchestrate a café get-together. Keep it informal. Take a social break by inviting friends, family, or coworkers to meet you a favorite café—for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or an afternoon coffee break.
Host a pot-luck dinner at your place. Invite some favorite people in your life to bring a pot-luck dish to your home. Ask one to bring a salad, while others complete the meal with a main dish, sides, and dessert.
Create a cooking club “family.” Invite coworkers, friends, and community members with whom you interact—a librarian, neighbors, people who work in restaurants—to be part of your cooking club “family.” Rotate meals at the homes of members. Share meal memories and favorite-food stories as you dine.
Organize quick-fix family fare. If you’re time-pressured, but you enjoy planning activities in advance, this is a unique way to create a family meal. Pick a day, set aside some time, and plan your meals for the week. Shop for ingredients and prep them all in advance, then place the prepped food in the freezer. When it’s time to have one of the meals, both you and your family can assemble the ingredients and cook them together. Voilà! Dinner is served.
The Whole Person Integrative Eating antidote to the Solo Dining overeating style is to enjoy food-related experiences with others—as often as possible. Consider ways you can integrate eating with others into your food-related experiences each day, so that “social nourishment” becomes a normal part of your life.
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References:
- Scherwitz L, Kesten D, “Seven Eating Styles Linked to Overeating, Overweight, and Obesity,” Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing 1, no. 5 (2005): 342–59.
- Kesten D, Scherwitz L, “Whole Person Integrative Eating: A Program for Treating Overeating, Overweight, and Obesity,” Integrative Medicine: A Clinician’s Journal 14, no. 5 (October/November 2015): 42-50.
- Tani Y., Kondo N., et al, “Combined effects of eating alone and living alone on unhealthy dietary behaviors, obesity and underweight in older Japanese adults: results of the JAGES,” Appetite 95 (December 2015): 1-8.
- Gable S, et al, “Television Watching and Frequency of Family Meals Are Predictive of Overweight Onset and Persistence in a National Sample of School-Aged Children,” Journal of the Association of Nutrition and Dietetics, 1:107 (January 2007): 53-61.
- Won-woo C, Ki-hun L, “People Who Eat Alone More Vulnerable to Obesity,” Chosunilbo & Chosun.com, February 15, 2018, http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2018/02/15/2018021500536.html (accessed December 25, 2018).
- Lim Jeong-Yeo, “Dining alone leads to obesity for Korean millennials: Study,” The Korea Herald/Asia News Network, November 14, 2018, https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2018/11/13/dining-alone-leads-to-obesity-for-korean-millennials-study.html, (accessed December 25, 2018).