Digital Forms of Commensality in the 21st Century: A Scoping Review

Maína Ribeiro Pereira-Castro (), Adriano Gomes Pinto, Tamila Raposo Caixeta, Renata Alves Monteiro, Ximena Pamela Díaz Bermúdez and Ana Valéria Machado Mendonça
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Maína Ribeiro Pereira-Castro: Graduate Program in Collective Health, University of Brasília, Brasília 70910-900, Brazil
Adriano Gomes Pinto: Study Group in Communication, Culture, Technology, and Food—COMTELA, School of Education and Health Sciences, University Center of Brasília, Brasília 70790-075, Brazil
Tamila Raposo Caixeta: Residency Program in Public Health Policy Management, Fiocruz School of Government, Fiocruz, Brasília 70904-130, Brazil
Renata Alves Monteiro: Department of Nutrition, School of Health Sciences, University of Brasília, Brasília 70910-900, Brazil
Ximena Pamela Díaz Bermúdez: Graduate Program in Collective Health, University of Brasília, Brasília 70910-900, Brazil
Ana Valéria Machado Mendonça: Graduate Program in Collective Health, University of Brasília, Brasília 70910-900, Brazil

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 24, 1-22

Abstract: The social act of eating together has been influenced and mediated by technologies in recent decades. This phenomenon has been investigated in different academic fields, but the topic is still in an incipient dimension, and there is a lack of consensus regarding terminology and definitions. The study aimed to characterize the main scientific findings regarding digital forms of commensality in the 21st century and to identify possible relationships between these practices and public health. A scoping review was conducted to identify papers published in different languages between 2001 and 2021. A total of 104 publications that combined commensality and technology in all contexts were included. Most studies were qualitative; from the Design and Technology field; used social media and video platforms or prototypes/augmented reality gadgets; and used different terms to refer to digital forms of commensality, allowing the analysis of the construction of field definitions over time. The intersections with health were observed from impacts on family/community engagement, culinary skills development, and mental health and eating habits. These practices also structured specific social interactions, such as virtual food communities and commensality, during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper indicates the consistent growth of these practices and recommends the development of future research for theoretically and longitudinally deeper evaluations of the impacts of these new ways of eating together, especially regarding their effects on human health.

Keywords: eating together; food studies; digital commensality; food practices; technology; social dining (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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