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I'm staying in tonight: Cooking at home predicts lower dietary energy density and lower risk for obesity in a nationally representative sample of US adults
Author(s) -
Sawicki Stephanie,
Vernarelli Jacqueline A
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.643.29
Subject(s) - overweight , medicine , obesity , national health and nutrition examination survey , socioeconomic status , environmental health , energy density , demography , gerontology , population , endocrinology , physics , sociology , theoretical physics
According to current national surveillance data, over 60% of adults in the US are considered overweight or obese. Dietary energy density (ED, kcal/g) is an established risk factor for obesity. Recent public health messages have advised consumers to lower dietary energy density (ED) for weight management, however little is known about the types of dietary behaviors that contribute to a high‐ED diet. The purpose of this study was to evaluate dietary behaviors, including cooking behaviors, and dietary energy density in a nationally representative sample of US adults. Data from Data from a nationally representative sample of 5,535 adults who participated in the 2013–2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) was used for this study. During the NHANES, dietary data was collected using 24‐hour recall. Dietary ED was calculated using multiple methods. We found a significant positive linear relationship between dietary energy density and number of meals prepared away from home. Individuals who only consumed meals prepared at home had an adjusted dietary energy density of 1.31 kcal/g vs. 1.42 kcal/g among individuals who consumed 15 meals a vs. 1.57 kcal/g for individuals with 20 or more meals prepared away from home (p‐trend 0.001) after controlling for age, sex, race, educational attainment, socioeconomic status, smoking status, physical activity and BMI. Looking beyond away from home eating, we found that cooking dinner at home was associated with lower dietary ED. Individuals in households where dinner was cooked at home seven nights a week had significantly lower dietary ED than individuals who never cooked dinner at home (1.73 kcal/g vs. 1.88 kcal/g, p=0.001). Away from home eating is predictive of poorer diet quality, as measured by dietary energy density and may be a risk factor for obesity among US adults. Strategies to improve the number of meals consumed at home, or improve self‐efficacy in the kitchen may be promising public health targets for obesity prevention.ED adjusted for age, race, sex, educational attainment, household food security status, smoking status, physical activity, and BMI.