"The more often parents eat out, the lower their intake of fruits and vegetables," says Amanda Harrod, a researcher at Saint Louis University School of Public Health who is presenting her findings at the American Public Health Association conference this week.

Harrod studied young families who live in Missouri's bootheel and found that about 73 percent of the parents don't consume five or more fruits and vegetables each day, the amount recommended to guard against diseases such as heart disease and cancer.

Parents who frequently eat out are also less likely to have fruits and vegetables available at home. The reason families gave for not eating fruits and vegetables? They didn't like the taste.

Public health officials need to take into consideration what families are eating when they dine out “ whether it's in fast-food, sit-down or convenience restaurants “ if they're going to make inroads in improving the diet of families.

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Some lifestyle factors seemed to confer protection. Regular consumption of high fibre brown bread and 30 minutes of strenuous exercise at least once a week both halved the risk of developing acid reflux.

The explanation for dietary fibre might lie in the fact that it mops up large amounts of nitric oxide in the stomach, produced from nitrites in the diet, say the authors. Nitric oxide relaxes the muscle at the bottom of the gullet, so promoting reflux.

Surprisingly, heavy coffee drinkers (around 7 cups a day) were also around 40% less likely to develop acid reflux than those who drank one or fewer cups a day. However, the authors point out that people with acid reflux might abstain from coffee drinking, which could potentially skew the results.

But neither tea nor alcohol, irrespective of the quantities drunk, had any impact on risk.

Click here to view full paper (PDF Document)

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