How often do Australians visit fast food restaurants, and how does this affect their health?

According to research by Roy Morgan the more visits paid to fast food outlets, the greater the risk of being overweight. 

The research revealed in the three years to March 2014, 43 percent of Australian adults said they hadn't visited a fast food restaurant within the last four weeks.

Over the same period, 27 percent of people stated they had attended a fast food outlet between one and four times, which is classified as light visitation.

Medium visitation of between five and nine times was recorded among 17 percent of respondents, meanwhile 13 percent went to fast food outlets 10 or more times in a four week period, which is classified as heavy visitation.

What’s the affect?

According to Roy Morgan, there is little to no difference in the likelihood of being overweight among people of all ages who hadn’t visited a fast food restaurant at all and those who went between one and four times over a four week period.

At the other end of the scale, heavy visitation greatly increases the likelihood of being overweight across all age groups.

This includes an 11 percent increase for 18 to 24 year-olds and a 15 percent increase among people aged over 65.

“These results … show that heavy fast food restaurant visitation of 10 or more times a month correlates to a double-digit increase in the likelihood of being overweight,” said Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan Research.

She added the move towards home delivery could be damaging to Australians' health.

“Not surprisingly there is some community concern that should fast food restaurants add home delivery to their eat-in or take away options, as has been reported recently, fast food consumption levels could increase among some consumers – with a consequent increase in their likelihood of being overweight."

View the breakdown of results below:

Source: Roy Morgan Research; April 2011 – March 2014, sample n = 144,551 Australians 18+