Frequently eating restaurant meals can increase cardiovascular disease risk: Study

Washington: Frequently eating meals that are cooked in a restaurant, or away from home can lead to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer, according to a new study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Dining out is a popular activity worldwide, but there has been little research into its association with health outcomes. Investigators looked at the association between eating out and risk of death and concluded that eating out very frequently is significantly associated with an increased risk of all-cause death, which warrants further investigation.
The US Department of Agriculture recently estimated that Americans’ daily energy intake from food away from home increased from 17 per cent in 1977-1978 to 34 per cent in 2011-2012.
At the same time, the number of restaurants has grown steadily, and restaurant-industry sales are forecasted to increase significantly. Although some restaurants provide high-quality foods, the dietary quality for meals away from home, especially from fast-food chains, is usually lower compared with meals cooked at home.
Evidence has shown that meals away from home tend to be higher in energy density, fat, and sodium, but lower in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and protective nutrients such as dietary fiber and antioxidants.
“Emerging, although still limited, evidence suggests that eating out frequently is associated with increased risk of chronic diseases, such as obesity and diabetes and biomarkers of other chronic diseases,” explained lead investigator Wei Bao, MD, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.