Nutritional adequacy of meals from an independent catering facility versus chain restaurants for young adults.
BACKGROUND
Eating out of home has been associated with the increasing prevalence of obesity. While some chain restaurants provide nutritional information for their products, smaller independent catering facilities may not provide such information. The aim of this study was to assess the nutritional adequacy of meals provided to young adults at an independent catering facility and compare them with meals provided by chain restaurants.


METHODS
Meals were analysed in 2014 in the UK in relation of nutrient provision to targets for macro- and micro-nutrients. One-way ANOVA was performed to compare menus between the restaurants included in the analyses.


RESULTS
2056 meal combinations were analysed, 210 from the student accommodation and 1,846 from five largest national chain restaurants. Mean (SD) nutritional content was: student accommodation: 1193(269)kcal, fat 52.0(22)g, saturated fat 24.5(14.5)g, protein 42.4(28.5)g, carbohydrate 117.0(30)g; chain restaurants: 922(160)kcal, fat 40.0(9.7)g, saturated fat 14.5(5.8)g, protein 31.2(6.5)g, carbohydrate 104.2(16.6)g. Meals from the student accommodation presented significantly more calories than the meals in all five chain restaurants ( p = 0.0015).


CONCLUSIONS
Meal provision in the student accommodation was in excess of energy requirements and higher than the meals offered in chain restaurants. Regulating or setting nutritional standards for all places that provide food is essential as current food provision may favour unwanted weight gain and diet-related diseases.
1 SSH/JURI -Institut pour la recherche interdisciplinaire en sciences juridiques (JUR-I), Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium.
Charoula Konstantia
CK
Nikolaou
2 Human Nutrition Section, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, UK.
Catherine Ruth
CR
Hankey
2 Human Nutrition Section, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, UK.
Michael Ernest John
ME
Lean
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D004032:Diet / Q000592:standards*; D004041:Dietary Fats; D002149:Energy Intake; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005522:Food Services; D006801:Humans; D062407:Meals; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D009751:Nutritional Requirements; D009753:Nutritive Value; D009765:Obesity / Q000209:etiology; D012147:Restaurants; D012574:Schools; D013334:Students; D006113:United Kingdom; D055815:Young Adult
D004041:Dietary Fats
Public health; catering; nutrition; obesity