Contribution of Away-From-Home Foods to American Diet Quality

Family Economics and Nutrition Review, Winter, 1999

Eating out has become increasingly popular for Americans. In 1970, 26 percent of total food expenditure was spent away from home; by 1996, that share was 39 percent. Reasons for this trend include the growing number of women working outside the home, more two-earner households, higher incomes, smaller households, and more affordable and convenient fast-food outlets.

This study analyzes food intake survey data collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) over the past two decades to compare the nutritional quality of home and away-from-home foods.(1) Also, it examines how the quality has changed over time. This historical comparison shows how dining out influences specific dietary components: excessive intakes of total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium and low intakes of fiber, calcium, and iron.

The Data: 1977-95

Individual food intakes were collected in two decennial surveys conducted by USDA -- the Nationwide Food Consumption Surveys (NFCS) of 1977-78 and 1987-88. In 1985 USDA started the Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII) for relatively small national samples. During 1989-91 three separate 1-year surveys collected information on individual food intakes from nationally representative samples. Again, in 1994-96, three separate 1-year CSFII surveys were conducted.

Data for this study were from seven year-round, nationwide surveys of individual food intakes: NFCS 1977-78, NFCS 1987-88, CSFII 1989, CSFII 1990, CSFII 1991, CSFII 1994, and CSFII 1995. The CSFII 1985-86 data were excluded because they did not represent all Americans. The first five surveys collected dietary intakes for 3 consecutive days -- a 1-day recall and a 2-day record; the latter two surveys recorded 2 nonconsecutive days of food consumption. For the most accurate comparison of the seven surveys' data, only the first day from each survey was included in the analysis.

Intake data for children under age 2, pregnant and lactating women, and individuals with incomplete dietary intake data were excluded from this analysis. Sources of away-from-home food were grouped into five categories: Fast-food places; schools, camps, day-care centers; restaurants; other public eating places, including residential dining facilities, bars, soup kitchens, and meals on wheels; and other (a catch-all category, including vending machines and someone's home). Meals and snacks consisting of a combination of home and away-from-home foods were classified according to the highest caloric component.

Meal and Snack Eating Patterns

The number of meals consumed by Americans has remained stable over the past two decades at 2.6 or 2.7. Snacking, however, increased from less than once a day in 1987-88 to 1.6 times a day in 1995 (table 1). The percentage of meals eaten away from home increased from 16 percent in 1977-78 to 29 percent in 1995, and the percentage of snacks away from home rose from 17 percent in 1977-78 to 22 percent in 1995. The increasing frequency of dining out means that Americans are getting more of their nutrients from away-from-home sources (table 2). For example, away-from-home foods provided 34 percent of total calories in 1995, up from 18 percent in 1977-78. Away-from-home foods also provided 38 percent of total fat intake in 1995, more than double the 18 percent provided in 1977-78. Thus, the nutritional quality of food away from home has become increasingly important in determining the overall nutritional quality of diets in the United States.

Table 1. Meal and snack eating patterns of Americans,(1) 1977-95

                                    1977-78   1987-88   1989

                                              Number

Meals per day                         2.7       2.6      2.6
Snacks per day                        1.1       0.9      1.2

                                               Percent

Meals eaten away from home(2)          16        24       24

Snacks eaten away from home(2)         17        20       20

All meals and snacks eaten away
  from home(2)                         16        23       23
   Restaurant                           2         4        4
   Fast food                            3         7        7
   School(3)                            3         2        2
   Other public                         3         2        2
   Others                               6         8        8

                                    1990     1991    1994    1995

                                                Number

Meals per day                        2.6      2.6     2.7     2.6
Snacks per day                       1.2      1.4     1.5     1.6

                                                Percent

Meals eaten away from home(2)         23       27      28      29

Snacks eaten away from home(2)        18       18      21      22

All meals and snacks eaten away
  from home(2)                        22       24      26      27
   Restaurant                          4        4       6       5
   Fast food                           7        7       8       9
   School(3)                           2        3       2       2
   Other public                        2        2       2       2
   Others                              7        8       8       9