Meal patterns and cooking practices in Southern France and Central England Clare Pettinger 1, *†, Michelle Holdsworth 2 and Mariette Gerber 3 1 School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK: 2 UR106, Nutrition, Food & Society, Institut de Recherche pour le De ´veloppement, WHO Nutrition Collaborating Centre, Montpellier, France: 3 Centre de Recherche en Cance ´rologie, INSERM-CRLC, Montpellier, France Submitted 1 June 2005: Accepted 10 January 2006 Abstract Objective: To evaluate whether meal patterns and cooking practices in Central England and Mediterranean France conform to popular stereotypes, eating together as a household, preparation of meals, food purchasing patterns, cooking practices and eating out were investigated. Design: Cross-sectional studies conducted simultaneously in April 2001 using self- administered postal questionnaires. Setting: England (Nottingham, East Midlands) and France (Montpellier, Languedoc- Roussillon). Subjects: A stratified random sample of 1000 males and 1000 females aged 18–65 years was generated from the electoral roll in each country. The final sample comprised 826 subjects in England (58% males, 42% females; mean age 44 years) and 766 subjects in France (42% males, 58% females; mean age 42 years). Analyses were conducted on samples standardised for sociodemographic differences. Results: The French cooked from raw ingredients most often (P , 0.001), ate together as a household more regularly (P , 0.001) and were most likely to follow a regular meal pattern of three meals a day. On the other hand, the English relied more on ready-prepared (P , 0.001) and take-away (P , 0.001) meals, as well as on energy-dense snack foods such as crisps (P , 0.001). Females in both countries reported having most responsibility for preparing meals. Conclusions: Some of the study’s findings confirm popular stereotypes of French and English food cultures, as the importance of the convivial aspects of eating, as well as more traditional practices such as cooking meals from basic ingredients, structured mealtimes and less between-meal snacking, remain more prominent within the French population. This may contribute to the differences in prevalence of obesity seen between the two countries. Keywords Meal patterns Cooking habits France England Food culture England and France are neighbouring countries sharing similarities in their history and cultural heritage, but great differences in the development of distinctive culinary cultures. Their cuisines are popularly seen as offering striking contrasts, even though they have been in mutual contact and influenced each other for many centuries 1 . This contact has been described historically as creating many tensions between the two nations in terms of their national identities 2 . Food choice in humans is a complex process and its many determinants have been well documented over the last 60 years 3,4 . Food choice patterns differ throughout Europe and socio-cultural determinants are known to influence these patterns 5,6 . Culture has a major role in determining where and how foods are consumed 7,8 and food is a way of expressing sociability and hospitality 9 , as mealtimes bring groups together, both physically and symbolically 10,11 . Traditionally, women are more likely to be responsible for the greater share of food-related activities 9 but there is a suggestion of change in this traditional housekeeping role as women are increasingly going out to work, leading to a ‘de-skilling’ of certain food preparation tasks, an increasing influence of convenience on food choice in the UK 12 and a movement towards simpler meals and recipes in France 13 . Food is a major source of pleasure for almost all humans 14 and is known to play an essential role in France and Southern Europe in strengthening social ties 15 . The kitchen in France has been described as a convivial room q The Authors 2006 *Corresponding author: Email clare.pettinger@plymouth.ac.uk †Present address: Faculty of Health and Social Work, University of Plymouth, Peninsula Allied Health Centre, Derriford Road, Plymouth PL6 9BH, UK. Public Health Nutrition: 9(8), 1020–1026 DOI: 10.1017/PHN2006945