Socio-ecological influences on adolescent dietary typologies

Area of Science:

• Public Health and Nutrition
• Adolescent Health
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Adolescent dietary behaviors are a significant public health concern, potentially impacting long-term well-being.
• Understanding the complex factors influencing adolescent eating patterns is crucial for effective health promotion.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the socio-ecological determinants of dietary behaviors in a national prospective cohort of English adolescents.
• To identify distinct diet typologies and their associated influencing factors among adolescents.

Main Methods:

• Utilized latent class analysis on data from 7402 adolescents (aged 13-15) in the UK Millennium Cohort Study (sixth survey).
• Eight dietary behaviors were analyzed: fruit, vegetable, breakfast, sugar-sweetened beverages, artificial-sweetened beverages, fast-food, bread, and milk.
• Multinomial logistic regression and path analysis were employed to assess associations between determinants and diet typologies (healthy, less-healthy, mixed).

Main Results:

• Path analysis revealed small to moderate coefficients, indicating relatively weak relationships between most variables.
• Adolescents with less-healthy diets showed lower physical activity and had siblings compared to the mixed typology.
• Adolescents with healthy diets exhibited lower screen time and reduced social media usage compared to the mixed typology.

Conclusions:

• The study underscores the necessity of considering multiple, interconnected dietary determinants rather than isolated behaviors.
• Findings support the development of multi-faceted interventions by highlighting the influence of personal, social, and environmental factors.
• A systems-thinking approach is recommended to comprehensively improve adolescent eating behaviors.