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What are people's eating and drinking habits in the afternoon and evening hours?
Hello, and thanks for your question asking about what people's eating habits are in the afternoon and in the evening hours. I have found that while information on this subject is limited, because I believe the topic is fairly niche and has yet to be studied, I did find that Americans tend to eat their afternoon meal alone and their evening meal together. I also found that people are choosing healthier choices earlier on in the day, and consuming more calories later on in the evening. Finally, I also found that 1 in 5 people consider alcohol with their afternoon meal.
Below you will find a deep dive into my research, along with all the details as to how I came to this conclusion.
OVERVIEW
After a thorough search through academic papers, online articles and news stories I have not been able to find any studies or data that look at drinking and eating habits based on time of day. I believe that perhaps the topic is too niche and the data has yet to be collected. There is a lot of data focused on how changing how you eat at different times of day can impact your diet, perhaps the industry is focused on this theme. I did find some useful insights on this topic, but they are fairly limited. So in addition to this information I have also suggested some alternative avenues of research that may be of interest.
FINDINGS
45% of Americans are in the habit of eating their lunch alone, whereas dinner is more communal, 75% of people eat dinner with someone. This means that people are more in the habit of making eating in the evening a social occasion, rather than in the afternoon. In fact, 43% of US families are eating their evening meal together.
This article tells us that there is a correlation between healthiness of food choices that Americans make and the time of day. This means that in the afternoon we are making healthier food choices than in the evening. In addition to this, I found that our internal clock dictates much about how we eat and at what time. One study found that people who get up and eat early are making healthier choices early on in the day, in comparison to later at night. I also found that Americans are consuming a great deal more calories later in the day (in the evening) in comparison to the rest of the day.
Snacking is a habit of both the afternoon and the evening. This source tells us that a study found that Americans are likely to snack instead of eating lunch, when they have just finished work, and after dinner and before bed.
At lunchtime Americans who work are split between those who buy their lunch and those who bring. Buying lunch is becoming more popular, and most people who choose this option are going to eat at nearby restaurants.
As there was a limit to how much information was available on this topic, I decided to include this slightly dated source from 2011. It states that about 20% of Americans drink an alcoholic drink at lunchtime.
I also found that 65% of all coffee is consumed during breakfast hours, 30% between meals, and the remaining 5% with other meals. Therefore, people are drinking coffee about the same in the afternoon as they do in the evening.
Finally, as relevant information on drinking was scarce I have included this source. It tells us that those Americans who are drinking alcohol in the evening are increasingly likely to be drinking at home.
ALTERNATIVE AVENUES OF RESEARCH
In researching your request I found that these was much information on how scientists and doctors advice people to eat in terms of how much and at what time of day. It may be of interest to you to understand more about what are considered the optimum eating and drinking habits to have based on time of day. In addition to this I found some information on multicultural differences, for example Italians are known for drinking Caffe Latte in the mornings and Espresso in the evenings. You may wish to understand more about how different cultures differ in how they eat and drink at different times.
CONCLUSION
Overall I have found that there was limited information available on the specific topic that you are interested in, I believe that this is because the topic is too niche and the data has yet to be collected. I did find that Americans tend to eat their afternoon meal alone and their evening meal together. I also found that people are choosing healthier choices earlier on in the day, and consuming more calories later on in the evening. Finally, I also found that 1 in 5 people consider alcohol with their afternoon meal.
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