Dining out contributes a fifth of daily calories for Scots

Convenient foods are shaping Scotland’s food environment and dominating eating outside of the home for people, research shows.

A study of more than 1,000 adults across Scotland, conducted by Food Standards Scotland (FSS) and the Division of Agriculture and Food Systems, found that people eat outside of their homes seven times a week on average. 

Eating out of home is no longer for special occasions but is now part of daily life, the results indicate.

The wide availability of foods high in fat, sugar and salt, combined with aggressive online promotions, cheap upsizing, and multi-item meal deals, create an environment that makes it harder for people to eat well, FSS warns.

Food eaten outside the home now accounts for around 20 per cent of total daily calories for adults, rising to about 30 per cent among those who eat out most often.

Frequently eating out of home is associated with consuming more calories, saturated fat, salt and sugar, reinforcing concerns from FSS that the food environment that surrounds us today negatively impacts our diets. 

The research found that food from supermarkets and convenience stores, eaten on the move, was the most commonly consumed food outside the home. Cafés and coffee shops were also among the most frequently visited out-of-home outlets.

Most calories from out of home food came from everyday foods such as sandwiches, pizzas, chips, chicken dishes, and cakes. 

Insight from an FSS supplementary report shows that takeaways from fast food outlets often contained the most calories, with nearly half of these meals containing more than 1,200 calories, more than half of an adult’s daily intake.

The findings come at a time when nearly one in three adults in Scotland lives with obesity and almost one in five children is at risk, underlining the importance of putting healthier, affordable food in reach of everyone.

FSS is calling for a coordinated approach across government and industry to make healthier food easier for everyone to consume, including accessible nutrition information, smaller portion sizes, recipe reformulation and better promotion of healthier options, particularly for children.

An FSS webinar will set out the detail of the reports. 

Image credit: Emmy Smith.