More than one in four adults clash over what to have for dinner at least once a week, a study has found. A poll of 2,000 adults found a quarter find mealtime decisions to be the most stressful choice of the day, with 55% debating what to eat face-to-face and 26% using text. Nearly one in 10 even resort to social media conversations to decide on their evening meal plan.
Text debates and lack of inspiration
Of those who debate over text, an average of four text messages are sent – with one in 20 sending at least 11 – before settling on what to eat. More than a third said they dislike deciding what to eat because they lack inspiration and ideas for creative and tasty meals.
The top sticking point behind these arguments was found to be one person ‘craving’ something different to the other (37%), while 35% bemoaned eating the same meals all the time. Others disagreed after one person claimed not to know what they wanted or claiming they ‘don’t mind’ (34%), someone not wanting to cook (30%) or trying to decide between a homecooked meal or a takeaway (21%).
Stress and default meals
The study found nearly four in 10 (37%) of all adults find deciding what to have for dinner generally stressful. A third are put off by the effort required to cook, while a further 31% struggle after a long day at work. More than one in 10 (12%) even went as far as to say they feel overwhelmed when it comes to deciding what to eat.
As a result, 48% admit they often default to a go-to, easy meal while 41% have even resorted to eating the same meal they had the night before. The study, carried out via OnePoll, also revealed just 17% typically map out meals at the weekend, with 28% leaving it until the last-minute to decide their meal plans. It also emerged only 14% of adults actually cook from scratch every day.
Convenience and quick meals
More than half of those who don’t make home-cooked meals (54%) are put off if a recipe takes too long, while 39% abandon the idea altogether when it involves too much preparation. This leaves 35% falling back on the same meals every time - with pasta (53%), curries (24%) and jacket potatoes (20%) topping the list.
On the whole, almost half of adults (48%) just want something quick and easy when it comes to cooking during the week.
