Study Says Food In Restaurants May Be Just as Unhealthy As Fast Food Meals

A recent study indicates that when it comes to nutrition home cooking is the best choice since food in restaurants may be just as unhealthy as fast food meals. Even though people might think that eating at a proper restaurant is healthier the study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition says that this is not true.

The study was led by professor of kinesiology and community health Ruopeng An from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  For the study the research team analyzed data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey which constantly collects health and dietary data from a representative sample of the United States population.

The research was conducted on 18.000 adults who were required to answer questions related to their diet over a period of two days. A third of the participants said that they had eaten at fast foods on one or two days and a quarter of them said that they ate at a full-service restaurant at least in one of the days.

The findings of the study suggest that unlike the participants who ate food cooked at home those participants who ate at a full-service restaurant consumed 187 more calories, over 400 milligrams more sodium, 60 milligrams more cholesterol, 2.5 grams more saturated fats and 10 more grams of fat.

Compared to those who ate food prepared at home participants who ate fast food  consumed 190 more calories, 300 milligrams more sodium, 10 milligrams of extra cholesterol, 3.4 grams more saturated fats and 11 grams more fat.

In addition the study also indicates that those who have a poorer education take their calories from fast foods, whereas people who are in the middle-income range get the calories from full-service restaurants. Surprising as it may seem those who were obese ate from full-service restaurant and not from fast foods.

An said that FDA (the US Food and Drug Administration) has required restaurants what have at least 20 locations to provide their customers with information about the calorie and nutrient content on the menu, but most of the restaurants do not do this. He also remarked:

“So people who consume food at full-service restaurants are not aware of the calorie and nutrient content in the food served and are more likely to overeat and are less cautious about the extra calories they intake from the full-service restaurant.”

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