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

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 72, pages1724–1727(2018)Cite this article

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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.

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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.

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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
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  2. Augusta Gama
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  3. Isabel Mourão
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  4. Helena Nogueira
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  5. Vítor Rosado-Marques
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  6. Cristina Padez
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aristides M. Machado-Rodrigues.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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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

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