Abstract
Background: Global rates of overweight and obesity are on the rise with multiple factors and behaviours linked, but yet to be fully clarified. The objective of this study was to assess the association of eating out with fat mass.
Methods: This study is based on cross-sectional questionnaire and health examination data collected by the Swiss Health Study pilot phase. This pilot included healthy adults aged 20-69 between 2020 and 2021. Fat mass was measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis. The association between fat mass, expressed as fat mass index, and frequency of eating out was assessed using weighted, sex-stratified linear regression models.
Results: This Swiss Health Study pilot phase analysis included 633 participants from a randomized sample, of which 53% were women, and 42% were overweight or obese. Among women, 32.4% were overweight or obese, in comparison to 51.8% of men. The majority of people ate out regularly, but men ate out more frequently than women. For example, 36% of men ate out two to four meals per week, compared to 24% of women. While frequency of eating out decreased with age, it increased with income. No association was observed between frequency of eating out and FMI in either men or women.
Conclusion: Overall, we found no association between eating out frequency and fat mass index. However, we do provide up-to-date information on anthropometric data, overweight and obesity prevalence, and eating out frequency in a population-based sample during the COVID-19 pandemic.