Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:

Eating away from home: a risk factor for overweight in children

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 72, pages 1724–1727 (2018)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

The present study examined the association between childhood overweight, children’s meals and eating out in three types of restaurants (traditional Portuguese food restaurant, fast-food restaurant and snack bar). A representative sample of Portuguese children (5706 boys; 5950 girls aged 6–11 years) was used for this analysis and an ethnographic study with 233 interviews of the owners of snack bars in Coimbra (Portugal). Weight and height were measured (body mass index was consequently calculated). A familial and nutritional questionnaire was filled out by parents. Logistic regressions were used. Findings revealed that eating out at snack bars may be a risk for children’s health because those who eat out at these food establishments have a 21% higher risk of being overweight than those peers who do not eat out at snack bars. In conclusion, findings revealed a statistically significant association between overweight and eating out at snack bars in boys.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Macdiarmid JI, Wills WJ, Masson LF, Craig LC, Bromley C, McNeill G. Food and drink purchasing habits out of school at lunchtime: a national survey of secondary school pupils in Scotland. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2015;12:98.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Kant AK, Graubard BI. Eating out in America, 1987–2000: trends and nutritional correlates. Prev Med. 2004;38:243–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Stamatakis E, Coombs N, Jago R, Gama A, Mourao I, Nogueira H, et al. Associations between indicators of screen time and adiposity indices in Portuguese children. Prev Med. 2013;56:299–303.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Machado-Rodrigues AM, Santana A, Gama A, Mourao I, Nogueira H, Rosado V, et al. Parental perceptions of neighborhood environments, BMI, and active behaviors in girls aged 7–9 years. Am J Hum Biol. 2014;26:670–5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Cole TJ, Bellizzi MC, Flegal KM, Dietz WH. Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: international survey. BMJ. 2000;320:1240–3.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Bezerra IN, de Moura Souza A, Pereira RA, Sichieri R. Contribution of foods consumed away from home to energy intake in Brazilian urban areas: the 2008–9 Nationwide Dietary Survey. Br J Nutr. 2013;109:1276–83.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Ayala GX, Rogers M, Arredondo EM, Campbell NR, Baquero B, Duerksen SC, et al. Away-from-home food intake and risk for obesity: examining the influence of context. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2008;16:1002–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Guthrie JF, Lin BH, Frazao E. Role of food prepared away from home in the American diet, 1977–78 versus 1994-96: changes and consequences. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2002;34:140–50.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Bowman SA, Gortmaker SL, Ebbeling CB, Pereira MA, Ludwig DS. Effects of fast-food consumption on energy intake and diet quality among children in a national household survey. Pediatrics. 2004;113(1 Pt 1):112–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Maier IB, Ozel Y, Wagnerberger S, Bischoff SC, Bergheim I. Dietary pattern and leisure time activity of overweight and normal weight children in Germany: sex-specific differences. Nutr J. 2013;12:14.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was partially supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-007483).

Authors’ contributions

A.M.R. and C.P. participated in the design of the study and in its coordination and helped to draft the manuscript; A.M.R., A.G., I.M., H.N., V.R. and C.P. participated in the nutritional protocols, anthropometric measurements, data management and performed the statistical analysis. All authors revised the manuscript critically (e.g. intellectual content analysis), and approved the final version of the present manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Aristides M. Machado-Rodrigues, Augusta Gama, Helena Nogueira, Vítor Rosado-Marques & Cristina Padez

  2. High School of Education, Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, Viseu, Portugal

    Aristides M. Machado-Rodrigues

  3. Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Augusta Gama

  4. Research Centre in Health and Human Development, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal

    Isabel Mourão

  5. Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

    Vítor Rosado-Marques

Authors
  1. Aristides M. Machado-Rodrigues
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Augusta Gama
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Isabel Mourão
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Helena Nogueira
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Vítor Rosado-Marques
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Cristina Padez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aristides M. Machado-Rodrigues.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Machado-Rodrigues, A.M., Gama, A., Mourão, I. et al. Eating away from home: a risk factor for overweight in children. Eur J Clin Nutr 72, 1724–1727 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-018-0165-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-018-0165-3

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links