Objective: Away-from-home foods have been shown to have lower nutritional quality and larger portion sizes than many foods prepared at home. We aimed to describe energy and nutrient intakes among 2-13-year-old Mexican children by eating location (at home and away from home), overall, by socio-economic status (SES) and by urbanicity. Design: Dietary intake was collected via one 24 h recall in the 2012 Mexican National Health and Nutrition Survey (ENSANUT). Location was reported for each food consumed. Results were adjusted for sex, day of recall, region, weight status, SES and urbanicity. Setting: Mexico (nationally representative). Subjects: Children aged 2-5 years (n 1905) and 6-13 years (n 2868). Results: Children consumed the majority of daily energy at home (89 % of 2-5-year-olds; 82 % of 6-13-year-olds). The most common away-from-home eating location was school (22 % of 2-5-year-olds; 43 % of 6-13-year-olds), followed by the street (14 % of 2-5-year-olds; 13 % of 6-13-year-olds). The most common foods consumed away from home were wheat/rice and corn mixed dishes, sugar-sweetened beverages, pastries/candy/desserts, milk (2-5-year-olds only) and salty snacks (6-13-year-olds). Multivariate models showed that high-SES 2-5-year-olds consumed 14 % of daily energy away from home v. 8 % among low-SES 2-5-year-olds, and high-SES 6-13-year-olds consumed 21 % of daily energy away from home v. 14 % among low-SES 6-13 year-olds. There were no differences by urban residence. Conclusions: Among Mexican children, most foods and beverages were consumed at home. However, the percentage of foods consumed or purchased away from home increased with age and with SES.
Keywords
Eating location Energy intakeChild diet Fast food Latin AmericaOverweight and obesity are a major health concern in Mexico, with an estimated prevalence of 9 % among children of pre-school age (0-59 months)(1) and 35 % among schoolage children (5-11 years) (2) . Identifying dietary behaviours or environments that are linked to excess energy intake is a critical step in understanding where along the pathway policies or interventions can help prevent the continued rise of obesity. The away-from-home food environment is one potential area for improvement, as previous research has found that away-from-home food tends to have lower nutritional quality, including more energy, total fat and saturated fat, as well as less dietary fibre, vitamin C, Ca and Fe (3,4) . Larger portion sizes of away-from-home foods also contribute to increased energy intake (5)(6)(7)(8) .In the USA, away-from-home consumption accounts for 31 % of total energy among 2-5-year-olds and 36 % among 6-11-year-olds (9) . Recent research has also found that energy from stores, fast foods and school, all are comprised of about 32-35 % 'empty' calories from solid fats and added sugars (SoFAS) (10) . Little is known about away-from-home food and beverage intakes in Mexico and how this contributes to food group and total daily intakes. Quantifying the extent to which children consume daily e...