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.