Dietary Restraint in Adolescence Predicts Diet Quality in Young Adulthood

Abstract

Abstract Objectives Establishing a diet that follows the Dietary Guidelines for Americans has been associated with lower risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease and cancer. Some research has shown that individuals’ desire for weight control is an important factor in determining food choices. The aims of this study were to 1) examine dietary restraint in adolescence as a predictor of overall diet quality in young adulthood and 2) compare selected dietary components by levels of restraint. Methods Data were collected from participants enrolled in a longitudinal study in NC, the Right Track Health Study (n = 112). Dietary restraint was assessed using the 21-item subscale of the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire. Three 24-hour dietary recalls were collected to estimate dietary intake and Healthy Eating Index 2015 (HEI-2015) scores were calculated to determine diet quality. Multiple linear regression tested the association between restraint and diet quality, adjusting for sex, race, Body Mass Index-for-age percentiles and disinhibition in adolescence. Using the mean value for restraint (score of 6.64), “high restraint” and “low restraint” groups were created, and the specific HEI-2015 component scores were compared using t-tests. Level of significance was set at P < 0.05. Results Overall, participants consumed a poor-quality diet (HEI-2015 score = 50.24 ± 13.56). Higher restraint in adolescence (mean age 16.59 ± 0.39 years) was associated with higher total HEI-2015 score in young adulthood (mean age 18.74 ± 0.51) (β = 15.39 (95% CI: 3.44, 27.34) P = 0.01). The high restraint group had significantly higher HEI-component scores for total vegetables, greens and beans, total fruit, whole fruit, seafood and plant proteins, and added sugars. There were no differences between the two groups in the remaining HEI-2015 component scores (e.g., whole grains, fatty acids, sodium). Conclusions Higher dietary restraint in adolescence predicts better overall diet quality in young adulthood. Nevertheless, young adults in our sample failed to meet the federal dietary guidelines. Interventions aimed at improving diet quality should consider an individual's level of dietary restraint to better tailor nutrition advice. Funding Sources This research was supported by funding from NIH-NICHD and NIH-NIDDK.