Your family hates when you burp at the table: survey

As kids get older and parents get wiser, family dinners are a thing of the past.

A recent poll conducted by OnePoll on behalf of the Honey Baked Ham Company found that three in five Americans wish they could spend more time with their family over dinner.

About 2,000 adults were surveyed and they noted that they could only spend three dinners a week with their families.

However, the same people said it’s better to have good table manners when you get together: no burping, sipping, playing with food, using phones or watching TV.

The average person talked about eating four dinners a week with their family when they were younger, and then two more meals with friends.

Nearly half of respondents believe that having a family dinner together is an “important way to connect” over a meal (49%), a way to create memories (46%), to carry on family traditions (45%) and learn more about their family (46%).

When it comes to type of meal, nearly half of Americans said they prefer home-prepared meals (49%) or home-cooked meals (48%), followed by takeout (43%) and restaurant meals (32%).

“We are happy to hear that families want to spend more quality time together talking, catching up and bonding over a delicious family meal,” noted Jim Dinkins, CEO of Honey Baked Ham. Company, in research.

Because sometimes cooking at home can be inconvenient, the average American only has about 33 minutes to prepare. However, four out of five people still prefer it over any other method of dinner plans.

There are many reasons why people are moving away from home-cooked meals. Forty-three percent of participants said they didn’t want to deal with the tiring and exhausting process of cleaning up after dinner.

Some said they didn’t have the cooking skills (40%) to create a gourmet meal, while others simply didn’t have the time (35%).

Financially, a home-cooked family meal costs about $10.10 per person. For takeout, the price can be increased up to $12, $11.60 for fast food and $12.40 per person for a sit-down restaurant meal.

« No matter how you define family, we’re all looking for ways to keep family dinner stress-free, » Dinkins added. « Finding something quick to do is only part of the solution. »

Table etiquette is also an integral part of successful family meals. The data revealed that two-thirds (67%) of respondents believe good table manners are important when they are with loved ones.

« What pleasantly surprises us is how many people consider good table manners to be an important part of the family dining experience, » Dinkins said.

Thirty-five percent of people said they still follow the same rules of etiquette as when they were young. About 26% said they made their own rules as adults.

Rules that people still follow as adults today include: wash your hands before sitting at the table (49%), don’t talk with your mouth full (46%), never suck your food or their drink (44%), always chew with their mouth closed (44%) and never make noise with utensils (43%).

THE TOP 20 RULES OF TABLE ETIQUETTE:

• Wash hands before sitting at the table: 49%
• Do not speak with your mouth full: 46%
• Not sipping your food or drink: 44%
• Chewing with the mouth closed: 44%
• Don’t make noise with kitchen utensils: 43%
• Discuss your day or encourage others to do so: 43%
• Spread your towel over your lap: 41%
• No burping: 41%
• Don’t play with your food: 41%
• Do not eat too quickly: 41%
• No books or newspapers at the table: 41%
• Keep the TV off in the background: 41%
• Clean your plate/eat all your food: 40%
• Avoid reaching: 40%
• Only one person can talk at a time: 40%
• No phone at the table: 40%
• No video games at the table: 40%
• No tablets at the table: 40%
• No toys at the table: 40%
• Being clean, dressed appropriately for dinner: 39%