Daily rhythms of eating in Santiago, Chile

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the daily rhythms of eating, namely, the times at which food intake occurs during a day-long period, in Santiago, Chile.

Design/methodology/approach

The data used in this research come from a first time-use survey applied in Santiago in 2007 and 2008, which works with a retrospective activity journal to document the amount of time dedicated to different activities during the 24 hours of the previous day. Descriptive analysis and multinomial regressions were performed on a sample size of 2,282 cases, corresponding to those individuals over the age of 12 who responded to the daily activity prompt in full.

Findings

This study shows that people in Santiago tend to eat according to the same timetables (morning, midday and evening) and that socio-demographic variables have limited influence on the synchronization of this intake between Monday and Friday.

Research limitations/implications

The data did not allow for the exploration of the duration of food intake, commensality and its variation over time.

Practical implications

These data reveal that, for Santiago residents, eating is far from becoming de-structured towards a mode of constant grazing throughout the day, contradicting the thesis of alimentary modernity.

Originality/value

These results yield evidence that calls into question the applicability of the thesis of alimentary modernity within a Latin American context, which has not before been subject to investigation.

Citation

Giacoman, C., Leal, D. and Rivera, V. (2017), "Daily rhythms of eating in Santiago, Chile", British Food Journal, Vol. 119 No. 6, pp. 1189-1201. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-08-2016-0367