MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Department of Psychiatry, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, NY, United States.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2024 Nov;120(5):1215-1224. doi: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2024.08.017. Epub 2024 Sep 26.
Adolescence to early adulthood is a period of multiple life transitions. These transitions, along with changing resources and contexts, could contribute to significant changes in diet, which may persist into later adulthood.
We investigated diet quality trajectories from age 15 to 31 y and changes in diet quality associated with life transitions by sex.
Data from the Project EAT (Eating and Activity in Teens and Young Adults) study in Minnesota, the United States were used to examine diet quality among a longitudinal cohort (n = 2524) across 4 waves (mean ages of 15, 19, 25, and 31 y). Average within-person changes in DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) scores were analyzed using sex-specific latent growth models, incorporating underlying growth trajectories, 5 life transitions, and baseline sociodemographic and health characteristics.
Both sexes followed a quadratic trajectory of DASH scores, showing decreases in diet quality from Wave 1 to 2 followed by increases until Wave 4. However, males had increasingly worse diet quality than females. Compared with no such transition, leaving the parental home between Waves 1 and 2, was associated with transient decreases in diet quality at Wave 2 only for males (β: -2.34; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -3.57, -1.11). For females, cohabitating with a partner and becoming a parent between Waves 3 and 4 were related to decreases (β: -1.96; 95% CI: -3.45, -0.47) and increases (β: 1.85; 95% CI: 0.47, 3.23), respectively, in diet quality at Wave 4. Leaving full-time education and starting full-time employment showed negative and positive associations, respectively, with long-term diet quality for both sexes.
Diet quality remained suboptimal throughout adolescence and improved across early adulthood. Targeted dietary interventions are welcome for young people who leave their parental home early or do not enter a structured school or workplace environment and for addressing sex differences in diet quality associated with family-related life transitions.
青春期到成年早期是人生多个转折点的时期。这些转变，以及资源和环境的变化，可能导致饮食发生重大变化，这种变化可能会持续到成年后。
我们通过性别研究了从 15 岁到 31 岁的饮食质量轨迹以及与生活转变相关的饮食质量变化。
本研究数据来自美国明尼苏达州的 EAT（青少年和年轻人的饮食和活动）项目，该研究使用了一个跨 4 个时间点（15、19、25 和 31 岁时）的纵向队列（n=2524）的饮食质量数据。使用性别特异性潜在增长模型分析 DASH（停止高血压的饮食方法）评分的个体内平均变化，该模型纳入了潜在的增长轨迹、5 种生活转变以及基线社会人口学和健康特征。
两性的 DASH 评分均遵循二次轨迹，表明从第 1 波到第 2 波饮食质量下降，然后到第 4 波上升。然而，男性的饮食质量比女性差。与没有此类转变相比，在第 1 波和第 2 波之间离开父母家，仅与男性第 2 波的饮食质量短暂下降有关（β：-2.34；95%置信区间[CI]：-3.57，-1.11）。对于女性，在第 3 波和第 4 波期间与伴侣同居并成为父母，分别与第 4 波时饮食质量的下降（β：-1.96；95%CI：-3.45，-0.47）和上升（β：1.85；95%CI：0.47，3.23）有关。离开全日制教育并开始全职工作对两性的长期饮食质量都有负面影响和积极影响。
青春期的饮食质量一直不理想，成年早期有所改善。欢迎针对那些过早离开父母家或未进入结构化学校或工作环境的年轻人，以及针对与家庭相关的生活转变相关的性别差异的饮食质量问题，开展有针对性的饮食干预措施。
