The luxury of a screen-free dinner
The TV is on and at least one person is on the phone – this is how most Hungarian families describe a meal together, according to the results of a recent representative survey* by KOMETA. Only three out of ten Hungarians eat together every day with family members and close friends without paying attention to anyone but themselves. Although one in twenty Hungarians experience it as stress, for the vast majority a meal together is a way to relax and recharge their batteries. But many people are dependent on their phones, and with a phone in their hand, this is impossible. A quarter of parents with young children would not be able to give up their phones for even an hour.
54% of Hungarians could do without their phone for up to a day
The bigger the city, the less likely you are to eat with your close family members on a daily basis without background noise and phone calls. While 38% of people living in towns and villages enjoy a real meal together every day, the proportion is only 29% and 27% respectively for people living in cities and towns. And only a fifth (21%) of people living in the capital eat with family and friends every day as a way to recharge and care for themselves.
Three out of ten families have the TV on and one in four have at least one person watching, but sometimes everyone is on their phone or watching it even during meals. Three in ten respondents reported no screens and real listening to each other. We are so dependent on our mobiles that 18% of respondents would not last a minute if they could only use their mobile to make calls. One in five respondents would last an hour at most, and nearly as many would last a day at most without using their device to watch videos or surf social media. KOMETA’s survey results show that it is the 40s, the age group most vulnerable to leading by example, who are the most addicted. Among them, one in four admit they could not spend any time without their mobile phone.
A shared meal could be the most relaxing part of the day
“Our survey shows that the majority of Hungarians are currently distracted by their screens, even while eating, even though these occasions are important for our physical and mental health. Research also shows that the more people have the opportunity to enjoy good lunches and dinners with family and friends, the more balanced they become and the healthier their eating habits become.” – said Ádám Dobos, Marketing Manager of KOMETA. The central character of their latest campaign is the telehandler board. They want to encourage people sitting around the table to make eating a real shared experience, which is about delicious food and just as much about listening to each other and connecting. Before you sit down at the table, put your phone away, for example in KOMETA’s promotional giveaway, the dedicated phone hiding board.
The need for communal meals is confirmed by the fact that Hungarians associate such occasions with positive rather than negative feelings. According to the KOMETA survey results, the majority (68%) believe that sharing a meal is being together with those who are important to them. Six out of ten Hungarians think that these occasions provide an opportunity to talk and connect. And one in four think it is one of the most relaxing parts of the day – having fun, relaxing and unwinding. However, 22% are sad to say that they find eating together a less and less frequent occasion. A much smaller proportion of people do not even want to sit at the same table with their loved ones, because sharing a meal is a logistical task (8%), a compulsory chore (6%) or even a source of stress (5%).
If you don’t talk, you watch a film
Half of respondents admit to doing nothing else while eating, i.e. just concentrating on food or company. The younger the person, the less this is true. Two thirds of 16-29 year olds, 64% of 30 year olds and 59% of 40 year olds are still browsing TikTok, reading the news or watching a film when they are not eating alone.
Among those who admit they can’t or don’t want to focus only on eating and each other, the most common activity is watching a film or video (73%), followed by social media surfing (27%), reading the news (24%), chatting (18%), playing online (12%) and some people can’t stop working even when eating together (8%).
*About research: The survey was conducted in January 2026 using the Europion mobile and web app survey, interviewing 1,339 people, and is representative of the Hungarian population aged 16 and over by age, gender, education, type of residence and geographical location. The statistical margin of error of the survey is 2.3%, i.e. the % distributions presented above may differ by a maximum of 2.3% from what would have resulted from a survey of the total adult Hungarian population. The survey was commissioned by KOMETA and carried out by Opinio Institute Kft.
