Are the meals you prepare at home healthier than the ones you get in restaurants? For most of the people in a recent survey, the answer is a hearty  “Yes.”

American shoppers who try their hardest to eat healthfully are usually those who eat dinner at home nearly every night, and most often with their families, according to the survey by Prevention magazine and the Food Marketing Institute trade group.

The study shows most Americans recognize the importance of eating healthier and are laying the foundation to do so: eating at home, buying organic and making healthier choices," said Cary Silvers, director of consumer and advertising trends for Rodale, the publisher of Prevention. 

According to the survey of more than 1,000 people:

•  Nearly three out of four shoppers believe the food they eat at home is healthier than meals they eat at restaurants.

•  More than nine in 10 consumers prepare at least one home-cooked dinner from scratch every week.

•  Two out of three fix home-cooked meals daily.

•  Sixty percent of the parents are more satisfied with the nutritional value of the bagged lunches they fix for their kids than of school cafeteria food.

•  Fifty-seven perfect said they strive “a lot” to eat more nutritious meals

•  Nearly 60 percent of those who are trying to lose weight say they’re just watching their calories or what they eat, with others going for low-carb and well-known weight-loss programs.

Relatively few shoppers believe that grocery stores offer “many” healthy options in frozen entrees, packaged foods, ready-to-cook and prepared foods. But they want supermarkets to provide them with nutritional information through signs touting healthy food choices, disease management and weight loss.

But what about organic?

One intriguing finding from the survey is surely to please fans of organic food. More consumers are turning to organic food than ever before, with increases in purchases recorded across all major categories.

The most significant increase came in organic fruits and vegetables, bought by 44 percent of the people in the survey, compared to 37 percent last year. Other increases were noted in organic dairy products; cereals, breads or pastas; meats or poultry; packaged foods; eggs; and soups and sauces.

The chief motivation to buy organic foods remains the perceived nutrition value, cited by eight in 10 shoppers. Nearly two-thirds mentioned long-term health effects, while just over half listed the environmental impact of growing or producing these foods, according to the survey.

The Shopping for Health 2006: Making Healthy Eating Easier survey is the 15th in a series of annual surveys of America’s supermarket shoppers conducted by FMI and Prevention. The survey examines interests and attitudes regarding health and nutrition, people’s efforts to manage their eating, and ways in which health and nutritional concerns play out in buying decisions at the supermarket.