title: Frequency and socio-demographic correlates of eating meals out and take-away meals at home: cross-sectional analysis of the UK national diet and nutrition survey, waves 1-4 (2008-12).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Food prepared out-of-home tends to be less healthful than food prepared at home, with a positive association between frequency of consumption and both fat intake and body fatness. There is little current data on who eats out-of-home food. We explored frequency and socio-demographic correlates of eating meals out and take-away meals at home, using data from a large, UK, population representative study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were from waves 1-4 of the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (2008-12). Socio-demographic variables of interest were gender, age group, and socio-economic position. Self-reported frequency of consuming meals out and take-away meals at home was categorised as: less than once per week and once per week or more. Analyses were performed separately for adults (aged 18 years or older) and children.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data from 2001 adults and 1963 children were included. More than one quarter (27.1%) of adults and one fifth (19.0%) of children ate meals out once per week or more. One fifth of adults (21.1%) and children (21.0%) ate take-away meals at home once per week or more. There were no gender differences in consumption of meals out, but more boys than girls ate take-away meals at home at least weekly. The proportion of participants eating both meals out and take-away meals at home at least weekly peaked in young adults aged 19-29 years. Adults living in more affluent households were more likely to eat meals out at least once per week, but children living in less affluent households were more likely to eat take-away meals at home at least once per week. There was no relationship between socio-economic position and consumption of take-away meals at home in adults.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  One-fifth to one-quarter of individuals eat meals prepared out-of-home weekly. Interventions seeking to improve dietary intake by reducing consumption of out-of-home food may be more effective if tailored to and targeted at adults aged less than 30 years. It may also be important to develop interventions to help children and adolescents avoid becoming frequent consumers of out-of-home food.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Diet & Activity Research, MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, School of Clinical Medicine, Box 285 Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK. jma79@medschl.cam.ac.uk.|Institute of Health & Society, Newcastle University, Baddiley-Clark Building, Richardson Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4AX, UK. jma79@medschl.cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health & Society, Newcastle University, Baddiley-Clark Building, Richardson Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4AX, UK. louis.goffe@ncl.ac.uk.|Human Nutrition Research Centre, Newcastle University, William Leech Building, Claremont Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4AH, UK. louis.goffe@ncl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Goffe
authors.affiliation: Wolfson Research Institute, Durham University, Queen's Campus, University Boulevard, Stockton on Tees, Thornaby, TS17 6BH, UK. tamara.brown@durham.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Tamara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Wolfson Research Institute, Durham University, Queen's Campus, University Boulevard, Stockton on Tees, Thornaby, TS17 6BH, UK. amelia.lake@durham.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Amelia A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Lake
authors.affiliation: Wolfson Research Institute, Durham University, Queen's Campus, University Boulevard, Stockton on Tees, Thornaby, TS17 6BH, UK. carolyn.summerbell@durham.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Summerbell
authors.affiliation: Centre for Diet & Activity Research, MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, School of Clinical Medicine, Box 285 Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK. martin.white@mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk.|Institute of Health & Society, Newcastle University, Baddiley-Clark Building, Richardson Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4AX, UK. martin.white@mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: White
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health & Society, Newcastle University, Baddiley-Clark Building, Richardson Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4AX, UK. wendy.wrieden@ncl.ac.uk.|Human Nutrition Research Centre, Newcastle University, William Leech Building, Claremont Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4AH, UK. wendy.wrieden@ncl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wrieden
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health & Society, Newcastle University, Baddiley-Clark Building, Richardson Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4AX, UK. ashley.adamson@ncl.ac.uk.|Human Nutrition Research Centre, Newcastle University, William Leech Building, Claremont Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4AH, UK. ashley.adamson@ncl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Ashley J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Adamson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D004034:Diet Surveys; D004435:Eating; D005191:Family Characteristics; D057140:Fast Foods; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000209:etiology; D012147:Restaurants; D012923:Social Class; D006113:United Kingdom; D055815:Young Adult