OBJECTIVETo investigate the association between out-of-home eating (OH eating) and overweight/obesity among adults in China.

METHODSA total of 33 828 subjects aged 18-60 years old from the 2002 China National Nutrition and Health Survey were selected to calculate their daily consumption of food and nutrition, when people eating at home or out-of-home. The 24-hour dietary recall method for 3 consecutive days was used to collect food intake information ( not including the condiment intake). The logistic regression method was used to analyze the relationship between OH eating and overweight/obesity.

RESULTSThe prevalence of OH eating among Chinese adults aged 18-60 years old was 28.3% (9 562/33 828) in 2002. Overall, the prevalence of OH eating was significantly greater among men compared to women (P < 0.05) , and the rate for men was 32.4% (5 117/15 805), and the rate for women was 24.7% (4 445/18 023). Besides, men who ate out of home showed a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity than those who ate at home (P < 0.05) , and the prevalence of overweight and obesity among them were 38.9% (1 991/5 117) and 31.7% (3 389/10 684), respectively. While women who ate at home showed a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity than those who ate out of home, and the prevalence of overweight and obesity among them were 38.1% (5 174/13 571) and 35.6% (1 581/4 445), respectively. Compared with at-home eating group, 130.4 kJ energy, 12.2 g fat, 6.2 g protein and 67.1 mg sodium were excessively consumed per day for men, and 102.5 kJ energy, 8.6 g fat, 3.4 g protein and 60.6 mg sodium were excessively consumed per day for women. To sum up, OH eating was positively associated with overweight and obesity among men (OR = 1.18, 95% CI:1.09-1.27) , but not among women (OR = 0.94, 95% CI:0.87-1.01).

CONCLUSIONOH eating was positively associated with overweight and obesity among men in China.