Home Cooking For Healthier Eating

Eat at home if you want your children to have healthful meals.

Children and teens consume more calories and take in fewer nutrients when they eat at either fast-food or full-service restaurants when compared with meals they eat at home, according to a recent study from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

When eating out, children tend to eat more high-fat, high-sodium food and drink more sugar-sweetened beverages, say researchers who looked at data from more than 9,000 children between the ages of 2 and 19 who were included in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

But if you’re not able to prepare a meal at home, you may be better off with restaurant carryout. Adolescents consumed half the amount of soft drinks when eating restaurant fare at home, compared with dining in a restaurant, where free refills on drinks may be available, according to the research published online by the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.