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Longitudinal changes in dietary patterns during adult life
G D Mishra1, S A McNaughton, G D Bramwell
1MRC Human Nutrition Research, Elsie Widdowson Laboratory, Fulbourn Road, Cambridge CB1 9NL, UK. g.mishra@nshd.mrc.ac.uk
The British Journal of Nutrition
|October 3, 2006
Summary
Longitudinal dietary patterns show significant changes throughout adulthood, particularly between ages 43 and 53. Socio-economic factors influence these evolving dietary habits, offering insights for public health interventions.
Area of Science:
- Nutritional Epidemiology
- Public Health Nutrition
- Longitudinal Study Design
Background:
- Dietary patterns are of growing interest, yet longitudinal investigations remain limited.
- Understanding dietary changes over time is crucial for effective public health strategies.
- Previous methods for dietary pattern assessment needed extension to longitudinal binary data.
Purpose of the Study:
- To adapt and apply a dietary pattern assessment method to longitudinal binary data.
- To analyze changes in dietary patterns across three adult life stages (ages 36, 43, and 53).
- To examine the relationship between dietary pattern shifts and socio-demographic covariates.
Main Methods:
- A prospective national cohort of 1265 participants provided 5-day food diaries at three time-points (1982, 1989, 1999).
- Factor analysis was employed to identify distinct dietary patterns for men and women.
- Random effects models were used to calculate trends in dietary pattern scores over time.
Main Results:
- Significant changes in dietary pattern scores were observed between 1989 and 1999 for all patterns, except a decline in the 'meat, potatoes and sweet foods' pattern for women.
- Higher education and non-manual social class were strongly associated with specific dietary patterns in both men and women.
- These socio-demographic associations were evident across multiple time-points, considering BMI and other covariates.
Conclusions:
- Dietary patterns evolve significantly during adulthood, with notable shifts occurring between the mid-40s and mid-50s.
- Socio-economic status and education level are key determinants of these longitudinal dietary changes.
- Identifying critical life stages for dietary shifts can optimize the targeting of public health interventions to improve population health.
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