6 Eating in or out of home in the Portuguese population: are there differences in dietary intake?

Abstract

<h3>Background</h3> Eating out of home (OH) has been increasing due to social and contextual changes. This phenomenon varies according to age, region and eating location and can contribute to a poor diet quality. Overall, there is insufficient information on the nutrient intake and types of food groups consumed OH by the Portuguese population. <h3>Objectives</h3> Describe and compare energy and nutrient intake and food groups (FG) consumption according to eating out patterns (EOP), by age groups. <h3>Methods</h3> This analysis used data from the National Food, Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey (IAN-AF;2015–2016) and includes 5005 individuals (3-84 years). Dietary intake was estimated by two non-consecutive days of food dairies in children (&lt;10 years) or 24-hrs recalls for the other age groups. Four EOP were defined according to eating location: ‘Home’ (at least 80% of meals at home) ‘Other homes’, ‘School/Work’ and ‘Restaurants/Other Places’ (&lt;80% of meals at home and the highest prevalence of consumption of meals in the respective location). <h3>Results</h3> Consumption at Home contributed in 70.3% for total energy intake (TEI). Compared with ‘Home’ EOP, ‘Restaurants/other places’ was characterized by higher TEI (2110 vs. 1780 kcal;p&lt;0.001 in adults), saturated fatty acids (in adults, adolescents and children) and sodium intake (in children and adults). ‘Restaurants/other places’ presented also the highest consumption of sweets/cakes/biscuits and non-alcoholic beverages. ‘School/work’ presented the highest fibre intake and fruit/vegetables/pulses consumption, significant in children, adolescents and adults. ‘Non-alcoholic beverages’ presented higher mean daily intakes in ‘Restaurants and other places’, in adults and adolescents. In adults, a higher odds of drinking alcoholic beverages in ‘Restaurants and other places’ was found (OR=1.73;IC95%:1.17-2.56). <h3>Conclusion</h3> ‘School/work’ and ‘Restaurants/other places’ are the EOP more relevant when considering OH-consumption; the first seems to contribute to higher consumption of nutrient-dense foods and the second to higher consumption of energy-dense foods, reflecting different nutrient profiles.