Children and adults understand eating primarily for physiological needs and desires, with routine being a secondary reason for eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and biological justifications becoming more important in middle childhood.

Why do we Eat? Children's and Adults’ Understanding of Why we Eat Different Meals

Late dinner induces nocturnal glucose intolerance and reduces fatty acid oxidation and mobilization, potentially promoting obesity if recurred chronically.

Metabolic Effects of Late Dinner in Healthy Volunteers - A Randomized Crossover Clinical Trial.

Eating dinner earlier may improve glucose tolerance, especially in MTNR1B risk-carriers.

Late dinner impairs glucose tolerance in MTNR1B risk allele carriers: A randomized, cross-over study.

Eating dinner early (at 18:00) improves 24-hour blood glucose levels and boosts lipid metabolism after breakfast the next day compared to eating dinner late (at 21:00).

Eating Dinner Early Improves 24-h Blood Glucose Levels and Boosts Lipid Metabolism after Breakfast the Next Day: A Randomized Cross-Over Trial

Unusual eating times can disrupt the circadian system, potentially leading to unhealthy consequences like obesity and metabolic risk.

Timing of Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. Effects on Obesity and Metabolic Risk

Higher family dinner frequency is associated with less soft drink consumption, consuming breakfast, lower body weight concerns, and higher self-efficacy for healthy eating at home and with friends.

Associations between family dinner frequency and specific food behaviors among grade six, seven, and eight students from Ontario and Nova Scotia.

Meals are a social practice that demonstrates proper social behavior and serves as a social interaction nexus for a group, with multiple ingredients and a variety of fl avors and textures.

The Practices of a Meal in Society

Eating more of the daily caloric intake at dinner is associated with an increased risk of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Consuming More of Daily Caloric Intake at Dinner Predisposes to Obesity. A 6-Year Population-Based Prospective Cohort Study

Late dinner may increase metabolic risks, while early dinner and routine sleep may improve weight control and metabolic health.

PSUN111 Rationale and Design of the Dinner Time 2 Trial: A Randomized, Crossover Trial to Compare the Effects of Delayed Eating vs Delayed Sleeping on Overnight Metabolism in Healthy Volunteers

The French model for dinnertime prioritizes fruits and vegetables more than the American model, leading to lower childhood obesity rates.

Eating fruits and vegetables. An ethnographic study of American and French family dinners

Having a dinner companion is associated with lower BMI, particularly in males and young adults.

Association between family dinner and BMI in adults: data from the 2013 to 2015 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Eating dinner away from home is reinforcing for middle-to high-income parents due to quality family time, picky eating, and perceived costs, while home cooking is hindered by early school lunch and after-school sports.

Eating dinner away from home: Perspectives of middle-to high-income parents

Interventions to improve the healthfulness of family meals, considering low education levels, psychosocial factors, and meal-specific factors, are needed.

What's for dinner? Types of food served at family dinner differ across parent and family characteristics

Intentional eating with mindful attention to meal timing and frequency can lead to a healthier lifestyle and better management of cardiometabolic risk factors.

Meal Timing and Frequency: Implications for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.

Obese individuals eat more when they think it's later than their regular dinner time, while normal individuals do not experience this effect.

Manipulated time and eating behavior.

Increased family dinner meals are positively associated with daily diet quality and negatively associated with breakfast and lunch skipping in students in grades 6-8 from Southern Ontario, Canada.

Healthy eating index-C is positively associated with family dinner frequency among students in grades 6–8 from Southern Ontario, Canada

Eating family dinner is associated with healthier dietary intake patterns, including more fruits and vegetables, less fried food and soda, lower saturated and trans fat, and more fiber and micronutrients, without significant differences in red meat or snack foods.

Family dinner and diet quality among older children and adolescents.

Eating family dinner at least most days is associated with a reduced risk of disordered eating behaviors in female adolescents.

Family Dinner and Disordered Eating Behaviors in a Large Cohort of Adolescents

Eating dinner alone is associated with being overweight among adolescent girls in Japan, but not among boys.

Effects of eating dinner alone on overweight in Japanese adolescents: a cross-sectional survey

Eating with friends and strangers leads to larger meals, with the mere presence of others being more important than the specific number of people present.

Social Facilitation of Eating Among Friends and Strangers

Some studies suggest eating dinner fulfills physiological needs and social practices, while other studies indicate that the timing of dinner can impact metabolic health and obesity risk.