Cross-sectional examination of physical and social contexts of episodes of eating and drinking in a national sample of US adults

Objective: The current study characterizes associations between physical and social contexts of self-reported primary episodes of eating/drinking and socio-demographic and obesity-related variables in US adults. Design: Multinomial logistic regression was used to analyse a nationally representative sample of adults from the 2006-2008 American Time Use Survey. Models identifying physical (where) and social (whom) contexts of primary eating/drinking episodes at the population level, controlling for demographic characteristics, weight status and time of eating, were conducted. Setting: USA. Subjects: A nationally representative sample of US adults (n 21 315). Results: Eating/drinking with immediate family was positively associated with age (OR = 1.15 (95% CI 1.04, 1.27) to 1.23 (95% CI 1.09, 1.39)), education level (OR = 1.16 (95% CI 1.03, 1.30) to 1.36 (95% CI 1.21, 1.54)), obesity (OR = 1.13 (95% CI 1.04, 1.22)), children in the household (OR = 3.39 (95% CI 3.14, 3.66)) and time of day (OR = 1.70 (95% CI 1.39, 2.07) to 5.73 (95% CI 4.70, 6.99)). Eating in the workplace was negatively associated with female gender (OR = 0.65 (95% CI 0.60, 0.70)) and children in the household (OR = 0.90 (95% CI 0.83, 0.98)), while positively associated with non-white status (OR5 = 1.14 (95% CI 1.01, 1.29) to 1.47 (95% CI 1.32, 1.65)) and time of day (OR = 0.25 (95% CI 0.28, 0.30) to 5.65 (95% CI 4.66, 6.85)). Women (OR50.80 (95% CI 0.74, 0.86)), those aged >34 years (OR = 0.48 (95% CI 0.43, 0.54) to 0.83 (95% CI 0.74, 0.93)) and respondents with children (OR = 0.69 (95% CI 0.63, 0.75)) were less likely to eat in a restaurant/bar/retail than at home. Overweight and obese respondents had a greater odds of reporting an episode of eating in social situations v. alone (e.g. immediate family and extended family; OR = 1.13 (95% CI 1.04, 1.22)) and episodes occurring in restaurant/bar/retail locations (OR = 1.12 (95% CI 1.03, 1.23) to 1.14 (95% CI 1.05, 1.24)). Conclusions: Findings underscore the multidimensional nature of describing eating/drinking episodes. Social and physical contexts for eating/drinking and their demographic correlates suggest opportunities for tailoring interventions related to diet and may inform intervention targeting and scope.