Two forks, one meal: Health implications of shared food systems in couples

Eating together is central to daily life in romantic couples, and food choices are often shared rather than individual. We examined the interdependence in shared food systems of romantic couples with a focus on shared meal frequency and meat consumption similarity. We investigate how shared food systems affect health and how these effects are moderated by gender and couple gender composition (different-vs. same-gender couples). This preregistered study used data from Wave 3B (autumn 2023) of the German FReDA panel (representative of 18- to 49-year-olds). Participants (N = 12,686) and their romantic partners (N = 5276) were surveyed. Measures included frequency of shared meals with the partner, meat consumption, several health outcomes, gender, and cohabitation status. Couples frequently shared meals (on average 10.23 times/week) and had similar meat consumption (r = 0.48, p < .001), particularly if they cohabited. More shared meals were associated with higher similarity and relationship satisfaction, higher life satisfaction, fewer depressive symptoms, and better subjective health, but also with higher meat consumption. No significant association with BMI was found. In heterosexual couples, gender moderated the effect on meat-shared meals associate to higher meat consumption for women but not men-but not the effects on subjective health or BMI. No gender moderations were found in homosexual couples. Findings highlight the importance of including romantic partners in models and interventions targeting eating behavior. Shared meals affect food choices (with gendered patterns) and can promote social and mental health, underlining the broad relevance of social eating.