Meal times and synchronization: A cross-metropolitan comparison between Santiago (Chile) and Paris (France)

This paper investigates the temporal dimension of meals. Specifically, it compares meal schedules and their social determinants in two metropolises, Santiago (Chile) and Paris (France). Our empirical material is drawn from two comparable data sources: Encuesta de Comensalidad en Adultos de la Region Metropolitana (Santiago, Chile) and Sante, Inegalites et Ruptures Sociales (Paris, France). Our research highlights cross-metropolitan similarities and disparities between Santiago and Paris regarding meal times and synchronization. Both metropolises share a similar and marked three-meal pattern. Three major peaks distributed throughout the day correspond to breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Both in Santiago and Paris, lunch is more synchronized than dinner, for reasons pertaining to professional and school rhythms. Dinner, however, demonstrates an important coordination effort towards the synchronization of social time within the family. However, this comparison also highlights important disparities between the two metropolises regarding meal schedules, the amplitude of synchronization, and sociodemographic patterns that express a different relationship to food and eating norms: negotiated in Santiago and rigid in Paris. These differences not only refer to nutritional requirements (content, frequency, pace of the meals, place and commensality) but also to familial and educational purposes. They express cultural norms regarding food and eating according to economic organizations and level of development.