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Nutrition and Food Choice: Home vs. Restaurants
Author(s) -
Binkley James K.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of consumer affairs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.582
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1745-6606
pISSN - 0022-0078
DOI - 10.1111/joca.12221
Subject(s) - calorie , food choice , profiling (computer programming) , nutrition facts label , environmental health , index (typography) , advertising , marketing , psychology , medicine , business , computer science , pathology , world wide web , endocrinology , operating system
Using the USDA Healthy Eating Index, a nutrition index based on nutrient profiling, and a measure of calorie density, we compare the healthiness of food choices at home and away from home by two samples of consumers. Along with simple statistical procedures, we use a method employed by financial economists to evaluate mutual fund performance. Data are from the 2009–2010 and 2013–2014 NHANES food surveys. We find that consumers with healthier home diets tend to show less attention to nutrition when away from home. While this may reflect a lack of nutrition knowledge, we suggest they are also a reflection of deliberate choice, of regarding restaurant eating as a “treat,” as at least one survey has shown.