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Bengaluru tops in ordering restaurant food home

It also has the third largest organised food service market and the third largest restaurant network.

Bengaluru: It's a growing trend in the city. Many Bengalureans are preferring to order food from outside today thanks to the online food catering services, which deliver it to their doorsteps at their convenience.

According to a study by the National Restaurant Association of India, Bengaluru tops all Indian cities in ordering food from outside as on an average it orders Rs 3,536 worth of food per household a month against national average of Rs 2,500. It also has the third largest organised food service market and the third largest restaurant network.

It appears that the trend is fed by young people, who like to see themselves as foodies, who want to go out and try different kinds of food, sometimes only to keep boredom away. But doctors stress the habit could be bad for their health, as eating outside food over the long term can lead to increased risk of obesity and chronic diseases as well as cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Said Ms. Shalini Arvind, Chief Dietician, Fortis Hospital, Bannerghatta Road, "Ordering food has become common in many households, especially among bachelors. One can easily consume twice one's energy requirements as all the tasty calorie-laden food is just a call away. For example; if your need for energy is of 1500 Kcal it's very easy to reach 3000 to 4000 kcal, when you add up all the food you consume the whole day. When we prepare food at home, there is a sense of balance. But ordering food online is driven by our desires. This repeated habit of eating more than our needs leads to all lifestyle diseases, which are otherwise preventable. An increase in waistline increases your risk for all metabolic, cardiovascular diseases."

Dr Priyanka Rohatgi, Chief Clinical Nutritionist, Apollo Hospitals, Bannerghatta Road notes that most of the packaged food contains large amounts of salt and preservatives.

"It is a chain reaction here as hypertension paves the way for diabetes, which may potentially lead to cardiac disease. Obesity is a common and primary health condition, caused due to excess consumption of junk food. Today, millennial cases of obesity are soaring high, and there is excess of fat storage due to higher intake of calories," she said.

However, with the growing awareness around health and fitness, there are also some online food caterers, who provide nutritious food for a healthy diet. Health experts still recommend that eating home-cooked, natural food is a must for everyone as one's food habits, physical activity and a sleep cycle, impact the quality of our lives.

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