A study that was done by the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) last week said that people who ate the healthiest foods were the most likely to eat at home. The study found that 71% of shoppers "believe the food they eat at home is healthier than meals consumed out" but it also found that 68% prepared dinner from scratch on a daily basis, showing a bias in their sample for people who already prefer to eat and cook at home.
This doesn't mean that eating at home is necessarily any healthier than eating out. As with all things food-related, this issue boils down to choices and in the case of eating out vs. eating in, the two biggest ones are what we eat and how we prepare it. The people in the survey are probably correct in thinking that the food that they prepared at home is healthier. They have complete control over what goes into each of the dishes they serve and what the portion sizes are. Many people will choose healthier preparations at home, using nonstick cookware and not keeping a squeeze bottle full of oil next to the stove (a pro-kitchen item that caused problems on a calorie-sensitive Top Chef episode), reaching for it more often than salt or pepper.
So is eating at home better for your health? Not necessarily, but it can be healthier than many restaurant or prepackaged alternatives, especially if your definition of "home cooking" isn't the same, on a daily basis, as Paula Deen's.
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