Analysis of eating out of home among adults in China from 2018 to 2020

ObjectiveTo analyze the eating out of home behavior of adults in China and provide the scientific basis for nutrition and health policy.MethodsSamples were chosen from China Food Consumption Survey from 2018 to 2020. A total of 34 462 participants aged 18 years old and above were included in the final analysis. The food frequency questionnaire and eating behavior questionnaire were used to collect eating out of home status in the past week. The differences in the rate of eating out of home and dining places， and dining out times among different groups of people were compare.ResultsThe overall rate of eating out of home in the past week was 40.7% among adults in 2018—2020 in China. The rate of adult residents eating out of home for breakfast， lunch and dinner was 17.9%， 27.2% and 20.2%， respectively. The average number of eating out of home was 1.8 times. The proportion of adults who ate out 1-3 times/week， 4-6 times/week and 7 or more times/week in the past week were 21.8%， 8.9% and 10.0%， respectively. In the past week， the proportion of people who ate in hotels， restaurants and other places， stalls， and canteens of workplaces， schools and other places was higher， 22.3%， 16.4% and 12.2% respectively， while the proportion of people who ate in Chinese and Western fast-food restaurants and other food processing places was lower， 3.0% and 1.9% respectively. The percentage of people who ordered takeaway food was 4.2%. The rate of eating out of home and dining out times were higher among male， people aged 18-44， people with college education or above， professional and technical personnel， people with per capita household income of more than 100 000 yuan and people in big cities. The proportion of professional and technical personnel and business service personnel eating in hotels， restaurants and hotels was higher， and the proportion of school students and professional and technical personnel eating in the canteen of work units and schools was higher.ConclusionFrom 2018 to 2020， the phenomenon of Chinese adult residents eating out of home was relatively common， and the rate of people aged 18-44 and in big cities was higher. For different meals and dining places， the rate of people eating out of home for lunch was higher， and the rate of eating in hotels， restaurants and other places was higher.