Food is more than just energy for our bodies and nutrition; it is the foundation upon which we form relationships with other people. Humans have always engaged in mutual eating, from gorging food together while huddled around primitive campfires to dinner gatherings at restaurants.
So, how do our social groups mold not just how we consume food but also what we imbibe and even influence our well-being?
New studies show that the people we share tables with – be they friends, relatives, or colleagues – greatly affect our eating and set up a “friendship diet” that can be either beneficial or detrimental to us, nirvana or hell, depending on how you look at it.
This type of diet raises important concerns: Is it possible that due to social pressure and conformity, we are changing our eating patterns to those around us? In the modern world where being a part of a group is valued, how much freedom do we really have over our diets? In this article, the scientific, psychological, and cultural factors underlying social eating will be discussing how the power of one’s dining companions goes unchecked.
The Development and Historical Foundations of Social Eating
Eating is a social activity that is part of the human experience. Researchers in evolution think that community eating has benefits for survival, it helped form relationships, it provided equal chances to access food, and it promoted confidence. As early humans sat next to fires to socialize, anthropologist Robin Dunbar emphasizes that they likely in tandem, accelerated the formation of culture and language together with cooking and eating.
Shifts in rituals made during feasts solidified social structure. In the medieval period of Europe, pretentious banquets were a show of power and wealth, potlatch ceremonies in the Indigenous North America served to reallocate wealth and strengthen bonds within communities. These truths present a deeper reality: dishes are a medium of communication. Still, 21st century world presents a complex collage of issues for face-to-face ancient eating habits.
People risk their health with traditional social mealtime due to increased snacking, living steady lives and using shared meals as time to bond, settling them as modernized ways of eating out. Nature Food reported in its March 2023 edition – doing meals with others makes a person gain 30% more calories compared to having meals alone – the new sedentary lifestyle clashes with the remnants of feast-or-famine era, and brings problems with the modern diet full of high caloric sustenance.
Psychology of Social Conformity – The Reasons Why We Eat The Same Food As Our Peers
Social Factors greatly shape what we place on our plates. There are two major reasons why psychologists claim so:
Mimicking
People tend to unconsciously synchronize the pacing and quantity of food consumption for every meal with the pace of their partners. This ‘Chameleon Effect’ is incredibly fascinating as it emerges from the brain’s mirror neurons that are triggered for imitation and empathy, as a study from University of Pennsylvania in 2021 outlines.
Judgemental Social Influence
This theory combines with the fear of being judged, which leads onto Holland’s theory of normalization. An instance where an individual was shown to snack healthier because he believed that was what the rest of his group indulged in is a clear instance of conforming to social norms.
Some of this behavioral behavior may be beneficial. As an example, a group of friends who are health conscious may evoke a positive response on consumerism of vegetables as a Dutch study displayed, increasing the amount by 50%.
But this is not all true
Children newer to social media ( a type of peer group ) tend to consume more fast food than is good for them because of the advertising done on those platforms, which causes rampant craving their doctors wish to contain. This was shown in an analysis by the 2022 Appetite journal.
Sociocultural Spread: The Internal Transfer of Obesity and Good Habits.
The Framingham Heart Study came up with the claim that social networks have the potential to “transmit” bad habits like obesity and smoking as well as good habits. Researchers discovered that when a close friend of an individual becomes obese, the individual’s chances of becoming obese increases by 57%. On the other hand, when people join group interventions with friends or family members, weight loss activities become 65% more effective
This contagion can continue over very specific behaviors as well. A study conducted in 2020 by the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior revealed that college students, who went out to eat with friends that are vegans, reduced the amount of meat they consumed by 34% and for some, this resulted in long-term plant based diets.
However, individuals may also get socially trapped in poor health situations due to their environments. These include workplace environments that encourage pizza lunches or happy hours where excessive food and alcohol consumption is regarded as normal.
The Unsavory Side of Social Eating: Health Risks and Peer Induced Decisions
Social eating is not as harmless and self-contained as it sounds. Sometimes, peer pressure suggests making poor decisions regarding what to eat or drink:
- Drinking Behavior: A study conducted in the University of Michigan discovered a link among heavy drinking and social circles where drinking is enjoyed the most. Those students reported the feeling of “being ostracized” when saying no to drinks.
- Binge Eating: A Pediatrics report from 2023 shows that adolescent friends who often indulge in junk food are at an increased risk of binge eating disorder by 2 times.
- Social Celebrations: Although these celebrations as Diwali or Thanksgiving are fun, they tend to drive excessive consumption of food which is unhealthy. On Diwali, an American can eat up to 4500 calories just on a single day, which is more than twice the recommended diet plan.
At the end of the day, the negative perception surrounding dieting adds insult to injury. According to a report published in Health Psychology in 2019, participants who actively tried to avoid drinking alcohol or sweet foods at parties found themselves being teased for making such attempts on 40% of occasions which resulted in many individuals giving up their goals.
Who can make healthy dietary choices?
The negative impact of social eating is disproportionate. Well off populations tend to have better health norms through easy access to farmers markets, nutrition classes, and organic foods. On the other hand, food deserts are areas with a lack of supermarkets that low income people are forced to live in.
A study conducted by Johns Hopkins revealed that 30% of Black and Hispanic Americans are more likely to reside in these food deserts which increases health risk disparities between races.
Mediterranean regions usually indulge in the consumption of vegetables along with olive oil which is relevant to communal family feasts, Western society on the other hand has adopted fast food in such quantities that it is now a solo on-the-go eating habit. This cultural tradition will ultimately prove to be a challenge.
Further, migration has enriched the complexity of the above mentioned. A study conducted by Social Science And Medicine in 2021 portrays how immigrants to the United States switched over to fast food diets in exchange for traditional home cooked meals.
How can we tackle the challenges of unhealthy social eating? The Community Initiatives program in Detroit is a prime example of interventions tried which turned out to be effective. Children are taught basic healthy life skills. This Aims to lower the chances of developing diabetes during adulthood. Also, Redesigning Work Places such is Google’s “Plant Forward,” is another way to promote healthy eating habits in workplaces. After replacing junk food with nutritious alternatives, Google produced a 20% decline in their employees’ cholesterol levels.
Regaining Control in the Friendship Diet
When discussing the ‘friendship diet’, one can simply argue that social connections may serve as food for thought or a food for frustration. But recognizing the problem is the beginning of the solution.
We can change the social contexts of eating, from negative to positive by selecting friends who share the same eating habits as us, encouraging the organization of cooking and eating together in a family setting, or even supporting health initiatives in the office.
In the end, the table is not merely an area from which food is consumed. Rather, it is a place from which ideas and concepts are created, and together with multitasking, every munch becomes an exercise in strength. And the question everyone asks is, who do you want to eat with next?
