Quarter of families have little appetite for dinner talk, survey finds

A quarter of British families no longer talk at dinner, with most bringing their phones to the table and 42% of parents saying they struggle to find a topic of conversation, a survey of 2,000 households has revealed.

- Jessica Murray

It found just one in three families sat down to eat together daily, with conversations increasingly being replaced by scrolling and screens.

Two-thirds (66%) of children aged eight to 16 said they would rather eat in front of a TV or computer than with a parent, and 51% said they used their devices while eating.

It is not just young people who are increasingly being drawn towards their screens, as 39% of children said they have had to ask their parents to put down their phones at the table.