Foods eaten outside the home: Nutrient contribution to total diet

The National Food Survey provides a valuable supply of information on the intake of food and nutrients in the British diet (Derry and Buss, 1984), but is confined to food brought into the home. The present study examined nutrient contribution from foods eaten outside the home to the overall diet. Seventy subjects (35 males and 35 females), were selected from a local health centre register, using age and sex as criteria, and asked to keep a written record of everything consumed for three days. There was a very high percentage of all subjects eating out over the three days, but most of this food could be classed as 'casual', or of the 'non-meal' category i.e. snacks. Employment was a significant determinant of frequency of eating out. The food groups contributing more highly to nutrient intake away from home were meats, sugars and preserves, alcoholic beverages, fish and chips. Energy from sugar, measured as sugar density, was significantly higher in 'away' foods, but fibre density and protein as a percentage of energy was higher in foods eaten at home. The percentage energy from nutrients to total energy did not differ greatly when alcoholic beverages were excluded from the data, apart from redistribution of the energy from alcohol between the other nutrients. The results show that foods eaten outside the home are potentially significant contributors to total nutrient intake, and future research on 'out of home' eating habits would benefit from inclusion of nutritional analysis