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You are here: Home / Food / Eating Healthy Away from Home: Beyond the Kitchen

September 14, 2016

Eating Healthy Away from Home: Beyond the Kitchen

Eating while on the go can be challenging for anyone.  Choosing nutrient dense options in portions which food-916397_640provide appropriate calories is a skill that must be learned and practiced.  When a person has diabetes, selecting foods which will not aggravate blood sugar levels and/or heighten risks for heart disease becomes an even trickier task.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) published a report on the health effects of eating food away from home.  “The Impact of Food Away From Home on Adult Diet Quality(PDF)Links to a PDF document.,” shares the following:

When eating away from home:restaurant-1343327_1280

  • Calorie intake increases
  • Consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and dairy foods decreases
  • Sodium and saturated fat intakes rise

Some influences for these negative health effects include:

  • Price affects food choices and lower priced items may be less nutrient-rich
  • Time constraints may cause healthier items to be bypassed for less healthy items easier to eat on the run
  • Personal tastes and marketing efforts may tempt consumers to purchase higher calorie, less nutritious foods

For people who live with Type 2 Diabetes and the ones who support them, Ohio State University Extension provides an opportunity for online access to a course designed to assist them as they dine outside of the home and purchase food at the grocery store.  The course, Dining with Diabetes: Beyond the Kitchen is open to all and registration is always open– and free!

DWDBTK-Banner_NoBottomSign up is easy and free: Visit go.osu.edu/DWD_BTK and click “buy now.” The course will be added to your cart for checkout at no cost. After completing the transaction, participant will be asked to create an account with campus.extension.org to take advantage of all the materials.

Planning ahead is better than looking back and having regrets.  When thinking about tomorrow, decide where and when you will be eating meals and snacks.  For meals at home, incorporate adequate fruits,blackboard-677578_640 veggies, whole grains, lean proteins, and low-fat dairy foods.  When dining out, check out menus and look for smaller portions, healthy and affordable options, and supplement fresh fruit, veggies, nuts, whole grains, etc. that can be stored safely in your bag or car.  Eating healthy while on the move is made more straightforward and simple when we read the menus and/or nutrition labels for nutrition information. When we are on the go, it remains important to make choices based on the health information available– not only for our sake but also for the benefit of our families.

Check out Dining with Diabetes: Beyond the Kitchen, and arm yourself with the knowledge and skills  you need to make healthy choices when you are on the run and beyond the kitchen!

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WRITTEN BY: Cheryl Barber Spires, RD, LD, Program Specialist, NW Region, Ohio State University Extension

REVIEWED BY: Shawna Hite, Healthy People Program Specialist, OSU Extension Family & Consumer Sciences

SOURCES:

  • Choose My Plate (January 2016). Eating foods away from home: MyPlate 10 Tips for Eating out. U.S. Department of Agriculture. Retrieved from: https://www.choosemyplate.gov/eating-foods-away-home
  • Todd, Jessica E., Lisa Mancino, and Biing-Hwan Lin. The Impact of Food Away From Home on Adult Diet Quality, ERR-90, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, February 2010.
  • Dan Remley, MSPH, PhD, Field Specialist, Family Nutrition and Wellness, OSU Extension; Barb Hennard, MA, Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Educator, OSU Extension Mercer and Auglaize Counties; Susan Zies, MS, Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Educator, OSU Extension Wood County; Shawna Hite, Family and Consumer Sciences, Healthy People Program Specialist; Cheryl Spires, MFCS, RD, LD, SNAP-Ed Northwest Region Program Specialist; Dining with Diabetes: Beyond the Kitchen; https://catalog.extension.org/product?catalog=DwDBtK
  • Susan Zies; Type 2 Diabetes and my family; https://livehealthyosu.com/2016/06/28/type-2-diabetes-and-my-family/

Categories: Food
Tags: convenience stores, diabetes, dinner, eating, healthy eating, healthy restaurant meals, lunch, meals, on the go, packed lunch, Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes

Avatar for Shawna Hite
Avatar for Shawna Hite

About Shawna Hite

Shawna Hite, MPH was the Healthy People Program Specialist with The Ohio State University Extension, Family & Consumer Sciences in 2016. Shawna received her BA in psychology and communication from Lake Forest College and her MPH from OSU. Shawna has focused her past research and work on the physical, nutritional, and mental health of youth and communities. Her previous jobs using community input to guide health curriculum development and program implementation with LEAD and the OSU Extension have made her passionate about efforts focused on equipping the larger community with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to make decisions which benefit their overall health and wellness.

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