The contribution of the out-of-home food (OOHF) sector to the national diet: a cross-sectional survey with repeated 24-hour recalls of adults in England (2023-2024)
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Background
Quantifying the contribution of the out-of-home food and drink (OOHF) sector on the English national diet could inform effective nutrition policy development. However, rigorous data and analysis for estimating the relative contribution of the OOHF sector to total diet is lacking.
Objectives
To quantify the nutritional contribution per day and per eating occasion of the OOHF sector on adults’ diets in England in terms of energy, total fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt, overall and across key demographics.
Design
Data collected from n=1232 participants (51% female) in a multi-stage online survey including demographics and mean 4.5 (SE 0.03) 24-hr dietary recalls over a 2-3 week period. Four waves of data collection (September 2023 -May 2024) captured seasonal differences. Hierarchical multilevel models explored differences in energy between 1) eating occasions or 2) days, containing OOHF versus not. Total nutritional differences by OOHF across demographics were described.
Results
Median out-of-home (OOH) eating occasion energy intakes were 440kcal (vs 294kcal for non-OOH occasions). After adjustment, energy intakes during OOH eating occasions were 196kcal [95%CI: 171, 221] (p<0.001) larger than non-OOH occasions. OOH days contained 103kcal [29, 177] (p=0.006) more than non-OOH days, but evidence of association was not robust to multiple testing. OOHF contributed a median of 11.0% (IQR: 0, 23.4) energy to total weekly energy intake. Participants exceeded recommended daily nutritional intakes more often on OOH days versus non-OOH days (>70g fat (female): 43% vs 29%, >90g fat (male): 29% vs 16%; >20g saturated fat (female): 62% vs 53%, >30g saturated fat (male): 36% vs 28%; >90g total sugars: 33% vs 26%; >6g salt: 32% vs 18%).
Conclusions
The OOHF sector makes a substantial contribution to the national English diet, with food prepared OOH linked to higher energy and poorer nutritional intakes. Population-wide nutrition policies targeting the sector are needed.
