Correlation Between Frequency of Eating out of Home and Dietary Intake, Sleep, and Physical Activity: A Survey of Young CDC Employees in China

Objectives: We aimed to investigate the correlation between the frequency of eating out of home and dietary intake, sleep, and physical activity among young employees from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in China. Methods: Using the cluster sampling method, 6099 employees aged 40 years or below from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 32 provinces in China were interviewed using an online questionnaire survey. The frequency of eating out of home, dietary intake, sleep, and physical activity of all participants was described, and correlation analysis was used to study the relationships between eating out of home frequency and related indicators. Results: A total of 5353 valid questionnaires were collected with the recovery rate of 87.77%. The results show that 85.8% of participants eat out of home one to five times per week, 10.1% eat out of home more than six times, and 4.1% never eat out. Correlation analysis showed that eating out of home is negatively correlated with a daily vegetable and fruit intake. The lower the intake of vegetables and fruits, the more obvious this tendency. Eating out of home is positively correlated with a daily intake of meat as well as a weekly intake of aquatic products. The higher the intake of meat and aquatic products, the more obvious this tendency. There was a negative correlation between eating out of home and sleep duration and physical activity. The lower the duration of sleep and physical activity, the more obvious this tendency. Conclusions: Based on existing survey data, young employees from the CDC eat out of home regularly, which may affect dietary intake, sleep, and physical activity. Targeted health education programs are urgently needed to assist in the promotion of a healthy lifestyle and reduce the potential risk of chronic disease.