How we eat what we eat:
Meal consumption in Portugal
BACKGROUND & AIMS
Trivial and yet complex, the meal is the cultural institution that regulates our diet as well as all of the decisions and behaviours associated with it. But how much do we really know about meal preparation and consumption habits today? And about how they relate to our socioeconomic status and impact our health and well-being?
The study “How we eat what eat: A portrait of meal consumption in Portugal in the twenty-first century” analysed the meal consumption patterns of the Portuguese and their evolution over the last two decades from multiple perspectives, in order to provide answers to these questions.
This project was carried out by a multidisciplinary team of researchers from the Catholic University of Portugal (CATÓLICA-LISBON School of Business & Economics) and the University of Porto (Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences and Institute of Public Health) for the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation between 2020 and 2023.
METHODS
The study applied a socio-ecological approach to food consumption behaviour in the analysis of multiple sets of data, both primary and secondary, relating to the planning, cooking, consumption and disposal of meals by the Portuguese population, and how these practices evolved between 2000 and 2020. Findings were also compared with those obtained in other Western countries over the same period - namely Belgium, the United Kingdom and the United States - so that they could be interpreted from an international perspective.
FINDINGS
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In Portugal, women spend on average more 18 minutes per day preparing household meals than men, carrying out more 12.6 hours of unpaid care work per week than them
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Home cooking is driven by personal norms, culinary skills, self-efficacy and enjoyment
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Meal consumption patterns are largely determined by employment status, with 42 per cent of the population eating out at lunch time, but only 13 per cent doing so at dinner
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Nearly half of the leisure time is dedicated to the consumption of meals, about 2 hours per day
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Almost 75 per cent of meals take place at home, but only 33 per cent is actually home cooked.
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Households with lower income are more likely to eat meals made at home by relatives or friends, while those with higher income tend to eat or order more out.
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Consumption of food away-from-home represents over 10 per cent of household expenditure in Portugal, being well above the EU average of 7 percent.
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Eating food prepared away from home is associated with lower diet quality and sedentarism, but not obesity or chronic illness
BOOKS
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Como comemos o que comemos. Um retrato do consumo de refeições em Portugal. Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos. ISBN: 978–989–9118–07–2.
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Como comemos o que comemos. Resumos da Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos. ISBN: 978–989–9118–14–0.
PAPERS
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Dietary intake according to different patterns of food preparation in children and adults: results from the Portuguese National Food, Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey (IAN-AF 2015/16). Accepted
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Patterns of food preparation in children and adult diets and their associations with demographic and socio-economic characteristics, health and nutritional status, physical activity, and diet quality https://doi.org/10.1017/jns.2024.87
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Eating out of home in Portugal: characterisation and effects on dietary intake https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114524000990
CONFERENCES
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Food preparation patterns and diet quality in Portuguese population. Work presented at the Twelfth International Conference on Culinary Arts and Sciences, Lyon, 2022.
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Food Preparation Patterns in Portugal - results from the IAN-AF 2015-2016 study. Work presented at the XX Congress of Food and Nutrition & II International Congress of Food and Nutrition, Porto, 2021.
