Who doesn’t like to enjoy the delight of having a meal outside, that too, when restaurants that suit all your tastes, styles and budgets abound around? However, we forget to remember that frequent eating out makes you take more calorie than your daily average resulting in excess weight. According to a paper in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, it turns out that whenever you go out to eat, you end up taking in an average of 200 more calories than if you eat at home.
Eating out instead of cooking at home is steadily becoming a factor impacting the healthy eating habits of thousands of people in the Sultanate.
“Oman’s demography comprises more young people. Many of them are not staying with families due to the nature of their work. Most of them are away from their hometown. Adding to this are long working hours that make them opt for eating out”, says Dr Iqbal Mohammed, a physician in Muscat.
Now listen to Faisal al Hadhrami from Sur. He is unmarried, and works in the Ministry of Health.
“I eat five days a week, that too, all the time in restaurants. Health concerns do not matter here. But for what I am lucky is that there enough eateries that I can choose from”, Bader says.
Busy working professionals, who spend long hours in the office tend to prefer convenience when it comes to food, which is why they eat out so often.
“All the three weekend evenings we depend on outside eating. Our children love pizzas and burgers. We too enjoy them”, said Catherine, a stay-at-home mom.
She knows that eating fast food and dining at full-service restaurants are associated with risk factors for overweight, hypertension, and dyslipidemia.
“What to do. Even if we plan to skip outing, our friend will not leave us. We all go together. This often ends up in eating more than what I am budgeted to have”, she adds.
Fast food joints and restaurants are often convenient for a quick meal and provide a welcome opportunity to socialise.
“Who we eat with, as it turns out, has a big impact on what we eat. To ignore this influence when thinking about diets and food is a recipe for disaster”, says Christie Wilcox, a nutritionist.
Gone are the days when going out was a weekly or monthly treat.
“If I say that most days we have our lunch outside will sound an exaggeration. Both of us are working and we do not have time in the morning to prepare food and go to office”, says Alwin along with his wife Marium.
While fast food chains have made efforts to offer low-calorie, low-fat and low-sodium options, it remains a challenge to determine whether these menu items are truly healthy.
Researchers are of the opinion that easy availability of more fast food restaurants compared to full service restaurants can contribute to higher levels of obesity.
According to Jason Machowsky, a well-known dietitian and columnist, one major consequence of eating fast food every day is excess calorie consumption.
Most “value” meals served with fries and soda provide well over
1,000 calories per meal, which is more than half the average person’s calorie needs.
SAMUEL KUTTY
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