Eating at home vs. dining out

For starters, please send recipes my way on ideas for preparing meals that can be frozen and reheated in the microwave. As our parents age, the need for simplifying their meals is of utmost concern to many baby boomers, and I think a story on the best way meals to make that go beyond spaghetti is a good idea. Just click on my e-mail address below and send the recipes on.

I ran across an interesting e-mail with information about eating at home versus dining out and it prompted one question, which will follow. According to Dr. Brian Wansink, executive director the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, three-fourths — that’s 73.6 percent — of adult Americans eat their meals at home. Good for them. That’s so much more healthful than depending on fast food or restaurants where you’re not sure about the dietary values of their menu items.

“Most parents believe they can’t control what their family eats, but in reality, university studies show that somewhere between 70 percent and 75 percent of the food decisions the family makes are controlled by the person who purchases and prepares the food,” Dr. Wansink said.

Now, that leaves me to wonder ... A good one-fourth of Americans continue to eat dinner out on a regular basis. And I think that’s a fairly substantial number. It’s scary to think how much money they spend on such endeavors. And, worst yet, we wonder why America has such an obesity problem?