Dining Out Means Unhealthy Eating, New Study Says

Dining out at full-service restaurants, as well as fast-food chains, have been an integral part of the American diet. A new study pointed out that dining out is a recipe for poor nutrition.

The researchers at the Journal of Nutrition analyzed the food habits of over 35,000 American adults using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The participants dined out at both fully-serviced restaurants and the fast-casual places, including pizza shops and fast-food restaurants.

The findings revealed that 70% of the meals served by the fast-food restaurants were of poor quality and about 50% of the meals from full-service restaurants served quality-compromised food.

More importantly, the authors noted that less than 0.1% of all the meals consumed from restaurants were of ideal quality.

“Our findings show dining out is a recipe for unhealthy eating most of the time. It should be a priority to improve the nutritional quality of both full-service and fast-food restaurant meals, while reducing disparities so that all Americans can enjoy the pleasure and convenience of a meal out that is also good for them," News Medical quoted Dariush Mozaffarian, the study’s senior author and dean of the Friedman School.

Key findings of the study:

• 21% of Americans’ total calorie intake was from restaurant meals
• Some groups of people ate more healthfully than the rest while dining out. The non-Hispanic whites and Mexican-Americans ate better quality food compared to non-Hispanic blacks.
• About 8% of Americans ate breakfast at fast-food restaurants.

After assessing the food quality in the meals served in restaurants, the authors suggested that enhancing nutritional quality can be done by adding more whole grains, nuts, legumes, fish, fruits and vegetables, alongside reducing the salt content.

They highlight the fact that food is the primary cause of poor health in the nation and that it represents a tremendous opportunity to reduce diet-related illness and healthcare costs. They also urged the restaurants to make efforts to provide quality foods for people to choose from if they opt to eat out.

Using the American Heart Association diet score to assess the quality of meals served at restaurants, they also evaluated the individual food groups and nutrients. The limitation of the study is that the participants might have overreported or underreported unhealthy or healthy foods due to desirability perceptions.