The cross-sectional relationships between consumption of takeaway food, eating meals outside the home and diet quality in British adolescents

Abstract

ObjectiveThe present study aimed to evaluate the association of frequency of consuming takeaway meals and meals out with diet quality of UK adolescents.DesignThe Diet Quality Index for Adolescents (DQI-A) tool was used to assess diet quality, where adolescents’ food intake was based on 4d diary records obtained from the UK cross-sectional National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) rolling programme Years 1–6. Models included confounders.SettingThe DQI-A relies on three components, specifically diet quality, diversity and equilibrium, which reflect the degree of adherence of an adolescent’s diet with food-based dietary guidelines.ParticipantsBritish (n 2045) adolescents aged 11–18 years.ResultsMean diet quality score for all adolescents was 20·4 % (overall DQI-A score range: −33 to 100 %). After adjusting for age, gender and equivalised household income, DQI-A% score was higher for low and moderate takeaway consumers by 7·4 % (95 % CI 5·5, 9·2; P<0·01) and 3·5 % (95 % CI 1·9, 5·1; P<0·01), respectively, v. frequent consumers. Significant differences were also observed between low, moderate and frequent takeaway consumers among all DQI-A components and sub-components (P<0·05), except for the diet adequacy sub-component (DAx). Results for frequent consumption of meals out were similar but attenuated and not statistically significant for individual components before or after adjusting for confounders.ConclusionsFrequent consumption of takeaway meals may have a negative impact on adolescents’ diet quality and therefore policies to reduce the intake of takeaways should be considered in this age group.

Exploring Rural Adolescents’ Dietary Diversity and Its Socioeconomic Correlates: A Cross-Sectional Study from Matlab, Bangladesh

“…There is no school meal program running in Matlab either. Recent studies suggest that exposure to such low-quality food environment with clustering of vendors or outlets adjacent to schools actually diminishes overall diversity of adolescents' diet [67,68]. The association of higher maternal education and adequacy of DD agrees with previous findings from Bangladesh [27,69].…”

Maternal Sleep Quality is Associated with Personal and Parenting Weight-Related Behaviors

“…Mothers with better sleep quality had the greatest frequency of family meals. Although these high sleep quality sleepers had more family meals at fast food restaurants than counterparts, the total proportion of meals high-quality sleepers ate in locations associated with lower nutritional quality [ 120 , 121 ] (i.e., in a car, at a fast food restaurant, and in front of the television) accounted for only 23% of total family meals compared to 26% and 29% for fair- and low-quality sleepers, respectively. Mothers in the high sleep quality group may have chosen to reward children with food as well as serve fast food as a form of stress and/or time management, which allowed them to spend more time sleeping and have higher quality sleep [ 122 ].…”

Next Steps for Interventions Targeting Adolescent Dietary Behaviour

“…Diets of adolescents in many countries are of poor quality when compared to those of younger and older age groups; higher in fats and sugars and lower in vegetables [1]. Intakes of fast food outside the home are often higher [2]; members of this age group are more likely to start engaging in risky behaviour including drinking alcohol and they are usually concerned with the views and opinions of their peers as well as their family [3]. This is an important age group to target as poor diet habits may persist into adulthood and increase the risk in the future of non-communicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancers [4].…”