Holiday celebrations often revolve around eating, but people with restricted diets are more likely to feel lonely when they can't share in what others are eating, according to a study. Across seven studies and controlled experiments, the researchers at Cornell university in the US found that food restrictions due to allergies, health issues or religious or cultural norms predicted loneliness among both children and adults.
In previous research, she found that strangers felt more connected and trusting of each other when they shared the same food, and eating food from the same plate increased cooperation between strangers. However, when restricted from sharing in the meal, people suffer "food worries." They fret about what they can eat and how others might judge them for not fitting in, Woolley said.
Those worries generated a degree of loneliness comparable to that reported by unmarried or low-income adults, and stronger than that experienced by schoolchildren who were not native english speakers, according to the research.
