Diet quality in young adults and its association with food-related behaviours

Abstract

Objective: To determine the diet quality of a group of young adults and explore its associations with two food-related behaviours (involvement in meal preparation and consumption of commercially prepared meals). Design: Cross-sectional study of young adults. Sample characteristics, food-related behaviours and dietary intake were assessed using a self-administered questionnaire including an FFQ. Diet quality was measured using the fifteen-item Dietary Guideline Index (DGI) designed to assess adherence to Australian dietary guidelines. One-way ANOVA, t tests and multiple linear regression analyses were used to explore the relationships between DGI scores, sample characteristics and food-related behaviours. Setting: University students enrolled in an undergraduate nutrition class, Melbourne, Australia. Subjects: Students (n 309) aged 18-36 years. Results: The DGI score was normally distributed, with a mean score of 93?4 (SD 17?1) points (range 51?9-127?4 points), out of a possible score of 150 points. In multivariate analyses adjusted for age, sex, nationality, BMI and maternal education, cooking meals for oneself was positively associated with DGI score (b 5 0?15; 95 % CI 1?15, 10?03; P 5 0?01); frequency of takeaway and frequency of convenience meal consumption were inversely associated with DGI score (b 5 20?21; 95 % CI 29?96, 22?32; P 5 0?002 and b 5 20?16; 95 % CI 27?40, 20?97; P , 0?01, respectively). Conclusions: Cooking meals for oneself was linked to higher diet quality among young adults, while consumption of commercially prepared meals was associated with poorer diet quality. Maintaining education programmes that promote cooking skills within young adults has the potential to improve DGI scores.

Exploring the environmental, personal and behavioural factors as determinants for university students’ food behaviour

“…One possible explanation may be related to how people define the term "cooking"-it may have different meanings, ranging from cooking from raw ingredients to microwaving ready-to serve foods. This supports the notion that public nutrition messages should explicitly endorse cooking more meals at home to address the heterogeneity of what it means to cook for Canadian university students (Thorpe, Kestin, Riddell, Keast, & McNaughton, 2014;Wolfson, Bleich, Smith, & Frattaroli, 2016 Not surprisingly, among our respondents, 42% (n = 362) report having an overloaded schedule and that, as a result, they look for food they can quickly buy, make and swallow. This is in line with the expected results.…”

Socio-Demographic Determinants of Diet Quality in Australian Adults Using the Validated Healthy Eating Index for Australian Adults (HEIFA-2013)

“…The overall less favorable diet quality of younger respondents has been consistently found in other research [33,34,35,36], and it has been suggested that age is one of the most important modifiers of diet quality [37]. Younger populations have been shown to be more likely to consume commercially prepared meals (takeaways and eating out), which displace healthier foods in the diet [38]. Australian young adults have been shown to be a group at high risk of weight gain over the past few decades [39,40].…”

Challenges to acquiring and utilizing food literacy: Perceptions of young Canadian adults

“…Participants who prioritized preparing food from whole ingredients coped with time constraints by making large batches of soups or stews to facilitate leftovers. Existing studies indicate that increased diet quality is associated with greater frequency of cooking and using more complex preparation steps (Larson et al, 2006;Thorpe, Kestin, Riddell, Keast, & McNaughton, 2013). Therefore, this study suggests that creating food learning opportunities prior to transitioning to independent living could potentially pique interest in cooking, which was associated with a variety of healthy food behaviours.…”