The association between types of restaurants and the consumption of ultra-processed food

Abstract

Abstract Background Ultra-processed foods consumption is an important risk factor for disease disorders, unhealthy feeding habits and climate changes. In the United Kingdom, ultra-processed food consumption represents more than 50% of calories per day. Furthermore, many studies shown that the locations are important for health foods habits. The aim of this abstract is to analyze the association between percentage share of ultra-processed foods consumption and percentage share kcal in each location consumers on U.K. Methods Cross-sectional data from the U.K. National Diet and Nutrition Survey (2014-2016) were analyzed. Foods items collected using a one-day food diary were classified according to the NOVA classification: unprocessed or minimally processed foods, processed culinary ingredients, processed foods and ultra-processed foods. All locations consumers were categorized on six groups: institutional (work, school), sit-downs restaurants, coffee shops, fast foods, home and others. To test the association, we used linear regression models, 95% confidences intervals were adopted. Results Ours crude analyzes shows that eat on fast foods, sit-down restaurants and other locations have been associated with percentage share of ultra-processed foods on daily kcal. Sit-down restaurants were negatively associated, and fast foods and other locations were positively associated. In the multiple model, adjusted for sex and age, the associations remained, with significance <0.00. Conclusions Our findings showed an association between some consumption locations and higher percentage share by ultra-processed foods on daily kcal. It is possible the inverse association found in sit-downs restaurants is because in these places there is a greater participation of unprocessed and minimally processed foods. Another important fact to consider is that in this population the consumption of ultra-processed foods is naturally high. Key messages Consumer locations have a different impact on the caloric share of ultra-processed foods. Encouraging consumption in some places can influence the improvement in the quality of the diet, decreasing the consumption of ultra-processed foods.