Table 4.

Key findings from qualitative studies of family meals.

Key Results	Example of Empirical Evidence		References
The practices of family meals are socially situated	Conversations	Middle classes: emphasis on family mealtime conversations and particularly with children	De Vault 1991 (US) Morgensten et al. 2015, (France)
		Working class: conversations seem less important	De Vault 1991 (US)
	Negotiation of food choices	Higher classes: important that all family members eat the same food during the meals, leaving less room for negotiations with children (control over children’s diet)	Maurice 2015 (France) Wright et al. 2015 (Australia)
		Lower classes: children have more agency in the choice of the food they eat	Maurice 2015 (France) Wills et al. 2008 (Scotland)
	Conviviality	Middle classes: meals are expected to be a convivial moment conviviality as social distinction	Phull et al. 2015 (France)
Barriers to having regular family meals	Scheduling conflicts: school, extracurricular activities and adult work		Middleton et al. 2019 (international review)Jarrett 2016 (US) Malhotra 2013 (US) Bowen et al. 2019 (US) Martinasek et al. 2010 (US) Berge et al. 2013 (US) Trofholz et al. 2018 (US) Backett-Millburn et al. 2010 (Scotland) Gallegos et al. 2011
	Lack of time because of household chores that are done while children eat
	Scarcity of help for the meal preparation
	Limited resources (money and space to have family meals)
	Parent(s) being too tired to eat with the children
	Lack of ideas or confidence
	Children characterised by parents as “picky eater”
	Other activities are prioritized over family meals (sports, etc.)
Challenges during family meals	Children’s physical behaviour characterised as “disruptive” by parents (i.e., not sitting “properly”, being “messy”, “improper” use of utensils)		Wilk 2010 (US) Malhotra 2013 (US) Berge et al. 2018, US, Trofholz et al. 2018 (US) DeVault 1991 (US) Berg et al. 2018 (US)
	Children characterised by parents as “picky eaters”, food refusal (also linked to resistance of parental authority)
	Children’s behaviours characterised as difficult by parents: fighting or playing between sibling
	Improper discussion or not enough discussion
	Mealtime synchronisation: family member eating too quickly or too slowly
	Family members being tired and strategic efforts to prevent usual conflicts become difficult
Family mealtimes are gendered events	Middle class women: emphasis on conversations with children during meals and some women from working class also strive to construct the meal as family communication occasion, which constituted source of conflict with husband		De Vault 1991, US
	Link between mothers’ domestic food role with family cohesion and conviviality		Phull et al. 2015 Fournier et al. 2015 Kinser 2017