Hot Topics | Study: Teens take in extra 300 calories per fast-food trip

The practice of cooking a family meal and eating it around the dinner table just got more support from a new study.

University of Illinois at Chicago researchers released a study that found kids and teens consumed 300 calories more per trip to fast-food or full-service restaurants compared to days they ate at home, CBS News reports.

“Parents (should) realize that restaurant consumption is not a straight-off substitute for eating at home,” study author Dr. Lisa Powell, professor of health policy and administration in the UIC School of Public Health, told Reuters. “Restaurant consumption and fast-food consumption should not be the norm.”

About 12.5 million U.S. kids and teens between ages 2 to 19 are obese.

The study involved more than 4,700 children between the ages of 2 and about 4,700 adolescents from ages 12 to 19. Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey that took place between 2003 and 2008, the researchers wanted to see if there were differences in calorie intake, diet quality and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages – namely soda – on days when kids ate at home and kids ate out.

They found that children consumed an extra 126 calories and adolescents took in 309 calories more each trip to a fast-food restaurant, as opposed to home cooking. Eating at a restaurant was linked to a 160-calorie increase for kids and a 267-calorie increase for adolescents, compared with times they ate at their house.

Fast-food restaurants in particular tacked on an added 13 percent more sugar, 22 percent more total fat, 25 percent more saturated fat and 17 percent more sodium on teen’s diets than daily recommended values.

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