Socio-economic differences in predictors of frequent dairy food consumption among Australian adolescents: a longitudinal study

Abstract

Objective: Sufficient dairy food consumption during adolescence is necessary for preventing disease. While socio-economically disadvantaged adolescents tend to consume few dairy foods, some eat quantities more in line with dietary recommendations despite socio-economic challenges. Socio-economic variations in factors supportive of adolescents' frequent dairy consumption remain unexplored. The present study aimed to identify cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between intrapersonal, social and environmental factors and adolescents' frequent dairy consumption at baseline and two years later across socio-economic strata, and to examine whether socio-economic position moderated observed effects. Design: Online surveys completed at baseline (2004)(2005) and follow-up (2006-2007) included a thirty-eight-item FFQ and questions based on social ecological models examining intrapersonal, social and environmental dietary influences. Setting: Thirty-seven secondary schools in Victoria, Australia. Subjects: Australian adolescents (n 1201) aged 12-15 years, drawn from a sub-sample of 3264 adolescents (response rate = 33 %). Results: While frequent breakfast consumption was cross-sectionally associated with frequent dairy consumption among all adolescents, additional associated factors differed by socio-economic position. Baseline dairy consumption longitudinally predicted consumption at follow-up. No further factors predicted frequent consumption among disadvantaged adolescents, while four additional factors were predictive among advantaged adolescents. Socio-economic position moderated two predictors; infrequently eating dinner alone and never purchasing from school vending machines predicted frequent consumption among advantaged adolescents. Conclusions: Nutrition promotion initiatives aimed at improving adolescents' dairy consumption should employ multifactorial approaches informed by social ecological models and address socio-economic differences in influences on eating behaviours; e.g. selected intrapersonal factors among all adolescents and social factors (e.g. mealtime rules) among advantaged adolescents.

Association between dietary factors and health-related quality of life in adolescents longitudinally over three years from age 11-16 years

“…That HRQoL becomes lower in females than males after the age of 12 and before the age of 13 years implies that this would be a suitable point at which to target intervention. Also as expected, given previous research [1,3,16,[20][21][22] there were gender differences in dietary patterns. Together, the observed variation in diet and HRQoL justify analysing the relationship between dietary patterns and HRQoL separately in males and females.…”

“…A longitudinal study conducted in Norway observed a decrease in HRQoL (Kidscreen10) in both boys and girls aged 11-14 years over three years [19]. Compared to females, adolescent males make less healthy food choices [1,3,16,[20][21][22]51] and consume meat more frequently [20,[23][24].. Given some evidence for gender differences in HRQoL along with consistent evidence for gender differences in dietary practices, boys and girls have been considered separately for the purpose of this analysis.…”