Americans love to eat out — and much of the time it’s not healthy

Americans got about one in five calories from dining out, either in restaurants or fast-food joints, in the period between 2003 and 2016. And while those meals may have been convenient, fun, and even tasty, they typically weren’t very healthy, according to new research from Tufts University. At fast-food restaurants, 70 percent of the meals Americans consumed were of poor dietary quality in 2015-16, down from 75 percent in 2003-2004. At full-service restaurants about 50 percent were of poor quality, about the same as in 2003-2004, according to the study by researchers at Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, which was published Wednesday in the Journal of Nutrition.

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