Abstract
Background: In the recent decade, dietary pattern assessment has evolved as a promising tool to describe the whole diet and represent inter-correlations between different dietary components. We aimed to derive the dietary patterns of adolescents (10–19 years) using cluster analysis on food groups and evaluate these patterns according to their socio-demographic profile.Methods: This community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in two districts, each from Bihar and Assam in India. Adolescents (10–19 years) were enrolled from both rural and urban areas. The dietary intake was assessed through a pre-validated single food frequency questionnaire. Cluster analysis was performed by a 2-step procedure to explore dietary patterns, pre-fixed at 2 clusters. Clusters were analyzed with respect to socio-demographic characteristics using binomial logistic regression.Results: A total of 826 girls and 811 boys were enrolled in the study. We found two major dietary patterns, namely a low- and high-mixed diet. The low-mixed diet (76.5% prevalence) had daily consumption of green vegetables, including leafy vegetables, with less frequent consumption of other foods. The high-mixed diet (23.5% prevalence) had more frequent consumption of chicken, meat, egg, and milk/curd apart from green vegetables. Adolescent boys had 3.6 times higher odds of consuming a low-mixed diet compared to girls. Similarly, adolescents with lower education grades and from marginalized social classes had two times higher odds of taking a low-mixed diet than their respective counterparts.Conclusions: The high consumption of a low-mixed diet and relatively less milk consumption limit the comprehensive growth of adolescents. Improvement in dietary intake of adolescents from marginalized sections of society can prove to be an important deterrent in mitigating India's nutritional challenges.
Highlights
Adolescence, defined by the World Health Organization as the age between 10 and 19, is a period of physical, cognitive, and psychosocial growth and development [1]
Around 8 adolescent boys and 8 girls were selected per village or ward
65–63.5% of families of adolescents had below the poverty line card
Summary
Adolescence, defined by the World Health Organization as the age between 10 and 19, is a period of physical, cognitive, and psychosocial growth and development [1]. It is imperative to understand that adequate nutrition is important for attaining full growth potential, and any insults or poor nutrition during adolescence may have transgenerational consequences [2]. Adolescence represents a window of opportunity to recuperate the growth insults that ensued early in life [3]. There is a growing interest at the public health and policy levels in understanding the complex adolescent health and nutrition needs [1]. Investment in adolescent health and well-being has been recognized as one of the best investments for achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals [4]. We aimed to derive the dietary patterns of adolescents (10–19 years) using cluster analysis on food groups and evaluate these patterns according to their socio-demographic profile
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call