Eating Away from Home: Influences on the Dietary Quality of Adolescents with Overweight or Obesity.

PURPOSE

To examine the influence of peers and the source of meals and snacks on the dietary quality of adolescents seeking obesity treatment.

METHODS

Baseline surveys were completed by 173 adolescents with overweight or obesity (11-16 years old) enrolled in an e-health intervention in Vancouver, British Columbia. Dietary quality was assessed with three 24-h dietary recalls used to compute a Healthy Eating Index adapted to the Canadian context (HEI-C). Multiple linear regression examined associations between HEI-C scores and the frequency of: (i) meals prepared away from home, (ii) purchasing snacks from vending machines or stores, (iii) eating out with friends, and (iv) peers modeling healthy eating.

RESULTS

Adolescents reported eating approximately 3 lunch or dinner meals prepared away from home and half purchased snacks from vending machines or stores per week. After adjusting for socio-demographics, less frequent purchases of snacks from vending machines or stores (b = -3.00, P = 0.03) was associated with higher HEI-C scores. More frequent dinner meals prepared away from home and eating out with friends were only associated with lower HEI-C scores in unadjusted models.

CONCLUSIONS

Snack purchasing was associated with lower dietary quality among obesity treatment-seeking adolescents. Improving the healthfulness of foods obtained away from home may contribute to healthier diets among these adolescents.