There is a growing trend among kids to eat out and bring takeout food home, a new study says.

What we’ve assumed for a long time – that kids are eating more prepared fast food – is now researched to be true.  The study found a third of food eaten now is cooked outside the home.

A third!  That’s quite high!  These foods are high in sugar, sodium and calories, and their increasing popularity means youngsters are getting more calories than they need, University of North Carolina researchers say.

We found that kids eat a relatively maintained level of calories at home, but in addition kids also eat an increasing number of calories outside the home,” said study author Jennifer Poti, from the University’s Gillings School of Global Public Health.

Children are consuming more calories than they need, which is not helping with the increasing obesity in youth rates.  Calories eaten away from home increased from 23.4 percent to 33.9 percent between 1977 and 2006.

Food children eat outside of the home include prepared meals sold in supermarkets and convenience stores, as well as fast food restaurants. But many children are consuming fast food at home, Poti said. In 2006, almost half of the fast foods children ate were eaten at home, she noted.

Although the reasons for this increase in eating prepared meals isn’t known, Poti speculates it’s a combination of factors including convenience, cost and time pressures.

This trend is adding to the obesity epidemic, Poti said. “Parents need to be interested in both the food source and location where it is eaten, which both significantly influence energy intake,” she said.

The report is published in the August issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.