It is estimated that close to one-third of our meals are eaten away from home and for younger adults close to 45% of all the meals they eat are made by someone else.
A recent study showed there is a link between meals eaten away from home and high blood pressure. Meals away from home are often higher in calories, saturated fat and salt. This type of meal pattern is believed to contribute to high blood pressure.
In the study of young adults, aged 18 to 40, who ate out regularly, over 25% had prehypertension and for those who ate 12 meals away from home each week 38% had prehypertension. Even one extra meal a week raised the risk for prehypertension by 6%. Men seemed to be effected more than women. Prehypertension was seen in 49% of men but only 9% of women. This finding makes sense since men experience heart disease at a younger age than women.
