How long does your average meal last? Is it more like 5 minutes or 45? A recent survey conducted in Britain found that the average dinnertime lasts just 14 minutes and 27 seconds, which is a decrease of more than 50% over the 33-minute mealtime recorded two decades ago. Only 1 in 10 diners have meals that regularly last over 30 minutes. On top of the shorter, speedier meal time, more people are eating alone and swapping home-cooked food for take out food and prepackaged goods.
Nutritionists can't help but link the diminishing importance of meal times with the growing obesity rates, citing the facts that 8 out of 10 people regularly eat in front of the TV and 1 in 5 eat at their computer as examples of mindless eating that proves people no longer pay attention to what they put into their bodies. The statistics support this position. 20% of all Britons are now clinically obese, with 25% of all British women falling into the obese category.
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