Many studies and publications have been undertaken to show the effects on eating out and Obesity. Results, however, have been inconsistent. Eating out was defined to include all food items prepared at out-of-home locations, irrespective of place of consumption. Some studies refer to eating out in general, others focus on restaurant visits and some refer solely to fast food consumption. There are also studies to analyse eating out with energy and fat intake, others with BMI. For this study, data was analysed by collating results from 25,000 men and women in 10 European countries to examine the association of eating at restaurants, or eating at work in comparison to those not doing so using BMI as a method to quantify the effect.
For the large sample 25,000 men and women ages 35-65 years old, the energy intake obtained from food consumed at restaurants, bars, cafeterias or fast food outlets or consumed at work was collected and analysed. BMI was found to be positively associated with eating at restaurants among men, particularly older men after adjusting for socio demographic and lifestyle factors. No links between BMI and eating in restaurants was observed among women. The advantages of this study are the large smaple size, the coverage of several European countries and the use of a food composition database harmonized across participating countries. Weight Loss and its difficulties are a mjor public health concern for developed countries.
Tags : Obesity Weight Loss
