Why the traditional family meal is 'on the way out'

Long working hours, time spent driving from the office and children's school activities mean families never get home at the same time and rarely eat their evening meal together, a new study has revealed.

The study found 10 per cent never have a family meal and less than a third sit down to one every night.

Fathers came out as the worse culprits for missing the family dinner, followed by teenage children.

Of the 2,000 parents polled, 15 per cent blamed a lengthy commute and one in five said domestic chores got in the way of a good family get-together.

The survey found that a third said they wished they sat for dinner more regularly and not just for special occasions.

"It is astonishing to see that the traditional family meal is on the way out, with only four in 10 families making the time to sit down for dinner twice a week or less," the Daily Express quoted Nick Thorogood, Senior Vice President of Content and Marketing, Food Network EMEA, who carried out the research as saying.

"Modern life means we all lead really busy lives and the research shows sitting down for a family dinner every single night of the week is something that no longer happens," he added.

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