FOI 24/25- 0013
DOCUMENT 27
Eating out habits of Australians
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Research question: How many meals on average Australians eat out or get take away per
week or month?
Date: 23/8/2022
Requestor: Kim s22(1)(a)(ii)
- irr
Endorsed by: Andrea s22(1)(a)(ii) - ir
Researcher: Stephanie s22(1)(a)(ii)
- irrelevant mate
Cleared by: Stephanie s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant mat
Review date: n/a
1. Contents
Eating out habits of Australians .................................................................................................. 1
1.
Contents ....................................................................................................................... 1
2.
Habits of Australians consuming food prepared outside the home ............................... 2
3.
References ................................................................................................................... 5
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2. Eating habits of Australians for food prepared outside
the home
There is limited quality, peer reviewed literature addressing the question of how often
Australians eat food prepared outside the home and the method of procurement. One peer
reviewed paper was sourced, Cameron et al (2022), which reports data from the Australian
arm of the 2018 International Food Policy Study. This study is conducted annually in five
countries: Australia, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States. In 2018
there were 3963 Australian participants; data is collected through self-report methods.
Table 1 shows the source and frequency over one week of meals prepared outside the home.
Highlights from this table:
• An average of 2.73 (95% CI 2.61 – 2.86) meals per week were prepared outside the
home, this included fast food/take away an average of 1.35 times, sit down restaurant
or pub meal 0.73 times, sandwich or prepared food from supermarket 0.2 times.
• On average, males tend to source more food prepared outside the home at 3.08 times
per week (fast food 1.49 times per week; restaurant meals 0.78 times) than females at
2.40 times per week (fast food 1.21 times; restaurant 0.68 times).
• By age group, 18-29 year-olds source more prepared food from outside the home,
averaging 4.29 times per week (fast food most frequently 2.00 times per week, followed
by restaurants or pubs 0.95 times per week), with 30-44 year-olds second highest (fast
food 1.71 times per week, restaurants or pubs 0.76 times per week)
Table 2 reports how meals prepared outside the home were procured. Highlights from this
table:
• Food sourced from an outlet more than 5 minutes from home was procured most often
(1.13 times per week), followed by a food outlet less than 5 minutes from home (0.77
times), food delivery service (0.35 times) and restaurant delivery (0.33 times)
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Table 1
Source and frequency (over one week) of meals prepared outside the home, Australian data
Mean number of meals from each source (95% CI)
Fast
Sit-down
Work,
Sandwich
Food truck,
Petrol
Leisure
Vending
Other
Total
food/take
restaurant
School,
from
market
station,
centre,
machine
average of
away
or pub
University
sup’market
milk bar
entertainment
all sources
venue
Total
1.35
0.73
0.15
0.20
0.10
0.10
0.07
0.05
0.11
2.73
average
(1.29-1.41) (0.67-0.78) (0.12-0.18) (0.17-0.24) (0.08-0.13) (0.08-0.13)
(0.05-0.08)
(0.04-0.07) (0.08-0.13) (2.61-2.86)
Sex M
1.49
0.78
0.20
0.26
0.14
0.14
0.08
0.08
0.11
3.08
F
1.21
0.68
0.10
0.15
0.07
0.07
0.05
0.03
0.11
2.40
Age 18-
2.00
0.95
0.34
0.43
0.26
0.22
0.16
0.16
0.13
4.29
29
30-
1.71
0.76
0.20
0.30
0.13
0.16
0.10
0.07
0.07
3.28
44
45-
1.22
0.55
0.06
0.09
0.01
0.04
0.01
0.01
0.14
2.20
59
≥60
0.61
0.67
0.02
0.04
0.02
0.02
0.03
0
0.10
1.47
Cameron et al (2022)
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Table 2
Procurement of meals prepared outside the home, Australian data
Mean number of meals from each procurement method per week (95% CI)
Food delivery service
Restaurant delivery service
Food outlet < 5 mins from
Food outlet > 5 mins from
home
home
Total
0.35
0.33
0.77
1.13
(0.31-0.40)
(0.29-0.38)
(0.71-0.82)
(1.06-1.19)
Sex
M
0.46
0.42
0.84
1.19
F
0.25
0.25
0.69
1.07
Age
18-29
0.79
0.65
1.22
1.36
30-44
0.53
0.48
0.87
1.26
45-59
0.12
0.16
0.68
1.08
≥ 60
0.04
0.09
0.39
0.86
Cameron et al (2022)
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3. References
Cameron, A. J., Oostenbach, L. H., Dean, S., Robinson, E., White, C. M., Vanderlee, L.,
Hammond, D., & Sacks, G. (2022). Consumption frequency and purchase locations of
foods prepared outside the home in Australia: 2018 International food policy study.
Journal of Nutrition, 152, 76S-84S. doi: https:/ doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxab437
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