{"id":13477,"date":"2020-02-20T22:50:03","date_gmt":"2020-02-21T03:50:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foodmedcenter.org\/?p=13477"},"modified":"2022-06-16T14:41:29","modified_gmt":"2022-06-16T18:41:29","slug":"how-dining-out-leads-to-unhealthy-eating-for-most-americans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foodmedcenter.org\/es_pr\/how-dining-out-leads-to-unhealthy-eating-for-most-americans\/","title":{"rendered":"How Dining Out Leads to Unhealthy Eating for Most Americans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overview<\/b>: In a cross-sectional study of US adults published in the <\/span>Journal of Nutrition,<\/span><\/i> researchers at the <\/span>Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University<\/span><\/a> found that meals from fast food (FF) and full-service (FS) restaurants accounted for <\/span>one in five<\/span><\/i> calories consumed by American adults between 2003-2016 aimed to assess the nutritional quality of restaurant meals in general.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Findings included that, based on validated diet scores from the American Heart Association, less than 0.1 percent of all restaurant meals consumed during the study period were of \u201cideal\u201d quality. This score is determined by the American Heart Association’s <\/span>2020 Strategic Impact Goals<\/span><\/a> and factors in consumption of fruits and vegetables, fish\/shellfish, whole grains, sodium, sugar-sweetened beverages, nuts\/seeds\/legumes, processed meat, and saturated fat. The majority of the restaurant items assessed were low quality, with AHA diet scores of 31.6 (FS) and 27.6 (FF) out of a possible 80.<\/span>\u201cIdeal\u201d quality meals had a score at or above 40 out of the possible 80.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The study concluded that spending on food away from home has risen to more than half of all food dollars Americans spend, yet the nutritional quality of the restaurant meals have remained the same in full-service restaurants and only modestly improved in fast-food restaurants. The disparities between meal quality and sociodemographic factors of race\/ethnicity, obesity status, education and income are widening, and there is a need for improvement in the nutritional quality of US restaurant meals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Because the study findings concluded that the nutritional quality of restaurant items is low overall, <\/span>Dariush Mozaffarian, senior author of the study and dean of the Friedman School notes<\/span><\/a> that <\/span>“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.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The researchers assessed specific foods and nutrients found in restaurant meals and identified priorities for improvement. Based on findings of no improvement over the study period in sodium levels of fast-food meals and worsening levels of dishes consumed at full service establishments, they prioritized adding more whole grains, nuts and legumes, fish, fruits and vegetables to meals while reducing the amount of sodium to restaurant meals.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mozaffarian mentioned to Science Daily<\/span><\/a> that \u201cat restaurants, two forces are at play: what’s available on the menu, and what Americans are actually selecting.\u201d Strategic improvements of nutritional quality must be carried out by the restaurant industry; however, advocacy groups, government, and consumers also have roles in advocating for improvements and making individual changes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Article Citation: <\/b>Junxiu Liu, Colin D Rehm, Renata Micha, Dariush Mozaffarian, Quality of Meals Consumed by US Adults at Full-Service and Fast-Food Restaurants, 2003\u20132016: Persistent Low Quality and Widening Disparities, <\/span>The Journal of Nutrition<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/jn\/nxz299<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Abstract Link: <\/b>Here<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Study Methodology<\/b>: Cross-sectional study with 24-hour recalls in surveyed samples of US adults<\/span><\/p>\n

Human or Animal Participants<\/b>: Human<\/span><\/p>\n

Study Populations<\/b>: 35,015 nationally representative US adults ages 20 and older from 7 <\/span>National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)<\/span><\/a> cycles (2003-2016)<\/span><\/p>\n

Who Does This Research Impact<\/b>: The study was focused on US adults specifically; however, the conclusions can provide insight into restaurant food nutritional quality for all Americans, including children as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How to Apply Findings:<\/b><\/p>\n