Differences in Nutrient and Energy Content of Commonly Consumed Dishes Prepared in Restaurants v. at Home in Hunan Province, China

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Citation

Jia, Xiaofang; Chen, Bo; Jin, Donghui; Fu, Zhongxi; Liu, Huilin; Du, Shufa; Popkin, Barry M.; & Mendez, Michelle A. (2018). Differences in Nutrient and Energy Content of Commonly Consumed Dishes Prepared in Restaurants v. at Home in Hunan Province, China. Public Health Nutrition, 21(7), 1307-1318. PMCID: PMC5897176

Abstract

Objective: Eating away from home is associated with poor diet quality, in part due to less healthy food choices and larger portions. However, few studies take into account the potential additional contribution of differences in food composition between restaurant- and home-prepared dishes. This study aimed to investigate differences in nutrients of dishes prepared in restaurants vs. at home.
Design: Eight commonly consumed dishes were collected in 20 of each of the following types of locations: small and large restaurants, and urban and rural households. In addition, two fast-food items were collected from 10 KFC’s, McDonald’s, and food stalls. Five samples per dish were randomly pooled from every location. Nutrients were analyzed and energy was calculated in composite samples. Differences in nutrients of dishes by preparation location were determined.
Setting: Urban and rural.
Subjects: Sodium, potassium, protein, total fat, fatty acids, carbohydrate, and energy in dishes.
Results: On average, both the absolute and relative fat content, saturated fatty acid (SFA) and sodium/potassium ratio were higher in dishes prepared in restaurants than households (P<0.05). Protein was 15% higher in animal food-based dishes prepared in households than restaurants (P <0.05). Quantile regression models found that, at the 90th quantile, restaurant preparation was consistently negatively associated with protein and positively associated with the percentage energy from fat in all dishes. Moreover, restaurant preparation also positively influenced the SFA content in dishes, except at the highest quantiles.
Conclusions: These findings suggest that compared to home preparation, dishes prepared in restaurants in China may differ in concentrations of total fat, SFA, protein, and sodium/potassium ratio, which may further contribute, beyond food choices, to less healthy nutrient intake linked to eating away from home.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1368980017003779

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

2018

Journal Title

Public Health Nutrition

Author(s)

Jia, Xiaofang
Chen, Bo
Jin, Donghui
Fu, Zhongxi
Liu, Huilin
Du, Shufa
Popkin, Barry M.
Mendez, Michelle A.

PMCID

PMC5897176

ORCiD

Popkin - 0000-0001-9495-9324
Du - 0000-0003-1156-0866