Food Consumption in Adolescents and Young Adults: Age-Specific Socio-Economic and Cultural Disparities (Belgian Food Consumption Survey 2014)

Abstract

A key issue in nutritional public health policies is to take into account social disparities behind health inequalities. The transition from adolescence toward adulthood is a critical period regarding changes in health behaviors. This study aimed to determine how consumption of four emblematic food groups (two to favor and two to limit) differed according to socio-economic and cultural characteristics of adolescents and young adults living in Belgium. Two non-consecutive 24-h dietary recalls were carried out in a nationally representative sample of 10–39 year old subjects (n = 1505) included in the Belgian food consumption survey 2014. Weighted daily mean consumption of “fruits and vegetables”, “whole grain bread and cereals”, “refined starchy food”, and “sugary sweetened beverages” (SSB) was calculated and explored in multivariable linear regressions stratified into four age groups. After adjustment, 10–13 year old adolescents living in less educated households daily consumed lower amounts of “fruits and vegetables” (adjusted mean: 165.6 g/day (95% CI: 125.3–206.0)) and “whole grain bread and cereals” (40.4 g/day (22.9–58.0)), and higher amounts of SSB (309.7 g/day (131.3–488.1) than adolescents of same ages living in more educated households (220.2 g/day (179.8–260.7); 59.0 g/day (40.3–77.8); and 157.8 g/day (1.7–314.0), respectively). The same trends were observed in older groups, along with strong consumption disparities according to region of residency, country of birth, and occupation, with specificities according to age. Our findings suggest the need to better explore such disparities by stage of transition to adulthood, and to adapt nutritional health programs.

Time and Age Trends in Free Sugar Intake from Food Groups among Children and Adolescents between 1985 and 2016

“…The relatively high SES of the DONALD study population may limit the generalizability of our results to the general German pediatric population [37]. Some studies showed a clear inverse association between SES and intake of sugary foods, especially SSB intake [60][61][62]. In the DONALD study, in particular, young children did not consume any SSB but instead consumed substantial amounts of fruit juices.…”

“…In addition, LEBTAB [39] accounts for changes in recipes over time and allows the estimation of both total FS intake and FS intake from different food groups. Finally, a variety of covariates that have been linked to dietary sugar intake could be considered as potential confounders [61,62,67].…”

Next Steps for Interventions Targeting Adolescent Dietary Behaviour

“…Cross-sectional research is useful for identifying specific foods and nutrients that are far from optimal, particularly poor or good dietary patterns and disparities in diet between specific subgroups of the adolescent population. We included a range of populations in this Special Issue, namely adolescents from Belgium [8], China [9], Norway [10], Poland [11] and the UK [12]. Different types of foods rather than nutrients were more likely to be reported, and the top dietary behaviours reported by all of the five cross-sectional studies were sugary drinks or foods and vegetables.…”

“…Wholegrain foods, fruit, fast food or school food and skipping breakfast were also mentioned by at least two studies. A number of factors had an impact on sugary foods and drinks; consumption of sugary drinks was reported to rise with age [11], was more common in adolescent boys [10] and more common in less educated or lower social class households [8,10]. For example, in Belgium, authors also reported that amounts of sugary drinks were around 50% higher and wholegrain foods were 50% lower in households where education was lower [8].…”

“…A number of factors had an impact on sugary foods and drinks; consumption of sugary drinks was reported to rise with age [11], was more common in adolescent boys [10] and more common in less educated or lower social class households [8,10]. For example, in Belgium, authors also reported that amounts of sugary drinks were around 50% higher and wholegrain foods were 50% lower in households where education was lower [8]. Some of the studies also reported that unhealthy behaviours clustered together, pointing to the fact that interventions targeting more than one behaviour might be more effective [9][10][11].…”