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Epidemiology

Eating at restaurants, at work or at home. Is there a difference? A study among adults of 11 European countries in the context of the HECTOR* project

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 71, pages 407–419 (2017)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

To compare macronutrient intakes out of home—by location—to those at home and to investigate differences in total daily intakes between individuals consuming more than half of their daily energy out of home and those eating only at home.

Subjects/Methods:

Data collected through 24-h recalls or diaries among 23 766 European adults. Participants were grouped as ‘non-substantial’, ‘intermediate’ and ‘very substantial out-of-home’ eaters based on energy intake out of home. Mean macronutrient intakes were estimated at home and out of home (overall, at restaurants, at work). Study/cohort-specific mean differences in total intakes between the ‘very substantial out-of-home’ and the ‘at-home’ eaters were estimated through linear regression and pooled estimates were derived.

Results:

At restaurants, men consumed 29% of their energy as fat, 15% as protein, 45% as carbohydrates and 11% as alcohol. Among women, fat contributed 33% of energy intake at restaurants, protein 16%, carbohydrates 45% and alcohol 6%. When eating at work, both sexes reported 30% of energy from fat and 55% from carbohydrates. Intakes at home were higher in fat and lower in carbohydrates and alcohol. Total daily intakes of the ‘very substantial out-of-home’ eaters were generally similar to those of individuals eating only at home, apart from lower carbohydrate and higher alcohol intakes among individuals eating at restaurants.

Conclusions:

In a large population of adults from 11 European countries, eating at work was generally similar to eating at home. Alcoholic drinks were the primary contributors of higher daily energy intakes among individuals eating substantially at restaurants.

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Acknowledgements

This study was conducted in the context of the HECTOR project entitled ‘Eating Out: Habits, Determinants, and Recommendations for Consumers and the European Catering Sector’ funded in the FP6 framework of DG-RESEARCH in the European Commission. The collection of EPIC data was performed with the financial support of the European Commission: Public Health and Consumer Protection Directorate 1993–2004; Research Directorate-General 2005, the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports (VWS), Netherlands Cancer Registry (NKR), LK Research Funds, Dutch Prevention Funds, Dutch ZON (Zorg Onderzoek Nederland), World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), Dutch Cancer Society (KWF), Statistics Netherlands (The Netherlands); Ragusa local support; Deutsche Krebshilfe, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, German Federal Ministry of Education and Research; Cancer Research UK; Medical Research Council, United Kingdom; Stroke Association, United Kingdom; British Heart Foundation; Department of Health, United Kingdom; Food Standards Agency, United Kingdom; Wellcome Trust, United Kingdom; the Hellenic Health Foundation, Athens, Greece; Italian Association for Research on Cancer (AIRC); Italian National Research Council, Fondazione-Istituto Banco Napoli, Italy; AIRE ONLUS RAGUSA, Italy; Swedish Cancer Society; Swedish Scientific Council; Regional Government of Skåne, Sweden; and Nordforsk the Norwegian Cancer Society. The collection of data for the National Italian study was supported by the Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria – Centro di Ricerca per gli alimenti e la nutrizione (CRA-NUT) (former INRAN). The authors are solely responsible for the contents of the document. The opinions expressed do not represent the opinions of the Commission and the Commission is not responsible for any use that might be made of the information included. The ‘for-profit’ members of the HECTOR Consortium did not have any involvement in the collection, analysis and interpretation of dietary data and in drafting or submitting this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hygiene, WHO Collaborating Center for Nutrition and Health, Unit of Nutritional Epidemiology and Nutrition in Public Health, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    P Orfanos, A Naska & A Trichopoulou

  2. Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Porto, and Institute of Public Health, Porto, Portugal

    S Rodrigues

  3. Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Porto Medical School/Institute of Public Health, Porto, Portugal

    C Lopes

  4. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC-WHO), Lyon, France

    H Freisling

  5. Division of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute (EBPI), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    S Rohrmann

  6. Epidemiology and Prevention Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy

    S Sieri

  7. Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    I Elmadfa

  8. Department of Food Safety and Food Quality, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    C Lachat

  9. Nutrition and Child Health Unit, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium

    C Lachat

  10. Department of Nutritional Physiology, TUM Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany

    K Gedrich

  11. Department of Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, Nuthetal, Germany

    H Boeing

  12. Division of Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany

    V Katzke

  13. Council for Agricultural Research and Economics—Research Center for Food and Nutrition (CREA-Alimenti e Nutrizione), Rome, Italy

    A Turrini

  14. Cancer Registry and Histopathology Unit, ‘Civic M.P.Arezzo’ Hospital, ASP Ragusa, Italy

    R Tumino

  15. Department of Economics and Statistics, ‘Cognetti de Martiis’ University of Turin, Turin, Italy

    F Ricceri

  16. Unit of Epidemiology, Regional Health Service ASL TO3, Turin, Italy

    F Ricceri

  17. Department of Medical Sciences, Unit of Cancer Epidemiology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

    F Ricceri

  18. Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Chirurgia Federico II University, Naples, Italy

    A Mattiello

  19. Cancer Research and Prevention Institute (ISPO), Florence, Italy

    D Palli

  20. National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands

    M Ocké

  21. Department of Public Health, Sport and Nutrition, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway

    D Engeset

  22. National Food and Nutrition Institute, Poland

    M Oltarzewski

  23. Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Nutritional research, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

    L M Nilsson

  24. Arcum, Arctic Research Centre at Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

    L M Nilsson

  25. Cancer Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    T Key

  26. Hellenic Health Foundation, Athens, Greece

    A Trichopoulou

Authors
  1. P Orfanos
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  2. A Naska
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  3. S Rodrigues
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  4. C Lopes
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  5. H Freisling
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  7. S Sieri
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  8. I Elmadfa
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  9. C Lachat
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  10. K Gedrich
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  11. H Boeing
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  13. A Turrini
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  16. A Mattiello
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  18. M Ocké
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  20. M Oltarzewski
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  22. T Key
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  23. A Trichopoulou
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to A Trichopoulou.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

*The HECTOR Consortium also consists of: Alexandra Manoli (School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Patrick Kolsteren (Department of Food Safety and Food Quality, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Gent University, Belgium and Nutrition and Child Health Unit, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium), Maria Daniel Vaz de Almeida (Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Porto), Guri Skeie (Department of Community Medicine, University of Tromsø, Norway), and Wlodzimierz Sekula (National Food and Nutrition Institute, Poland).

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Orfanos, P., Naska, A., Rodrigues, S. et al. Eating at restaurants, at work or at home. Is there a difference? A study among adults of 11 European countries in the context of the HECTOR* project. Eur J Clin Nutr 71, 407–419 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2016.219

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