The family tradition of sitting down together for an evening meal has been lost on some Bay families as new figures reveal time-poor parents are repeating the same boring meals, while struggling with their budget.
The study, conducted by General Mills food company, showed 16 per cent of Bay of Plenty and Waikato residents said they almost never sat down with their family for dinner, while 22 per cent said they checked their cellphones at least once during the meal.
Modern family dinner time in the Bay has been further hampered with 29 per cent of people saying they cooked fewer than six meals, which they repeated each week.
Forty per cent of Bay people surveyed said they would like more meal variety but were restricted by tight budgets, while a further 16 per cent said they lacked the confidence to trial new meals.
But some Bay parents say with a little organisation, families can still have healthy, home-cooked meals at the table on time each night despite hectic lifestyles.