In a new study, researchers found that eating out very frequently is strongly linked to an increased risk of all-cause death.
The research was conducted by a team at the University of Iowa and elsewhere.
Dining out is a popular activity worldwide, but there has been little research into its association with health outcomes.
Although some restaurants provide high-quality foods, the dietary quality for meals away from home, especially from fast-food chains, is usually lower compared with meals cooked at home.
Evidence has shown that meals away from home tend to be higher in energy density, fat, and sodium, but lower in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and protective nutrients such as dietary fiber and antioxidants.
In the study, the team analyzed data from responses to questionnaires administered during face-to-face household interviews from 35,084 adults aged 20 years or older.
Respondents reported their dietary habits including frequency of eating meals prepared away from home.
The team linked these records to death records through December 31, 2015, looking especially at all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, and cancer mortality.
During 291,475 person-years of follow-up, the team found mortality among participants who ate meals prepared away from home very frequently (two meals or more per day) compared with those who seldom ate meals prepared away from home were higher for all-cause mortality, heart mortality, and cancer mortality.
The findings, in line with previous studies, support that eating out frequently is linked to adverse health consequences and may inform future dietary guidelines to recommend reducing consumption of meals prepared away from home.
The take-home message is that frequent consumption of meals prepared away from home may not be a healthy habit. Instead, people should be encouraged to consider preparing more meals at home.
The study is published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. One author of the study is Wei Bao, MD, Ph.D.
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