Eating Egg-Rich Diets and Modeling the Addition of One Daily Egg Reduced Risk of Nutrient Inadequacy among United States Adolescents with and without Food Insecurity

Abstract

BackgroundAdolescents have the poorest dietary intake throughout their lifespan. Food insecurity worsens these nutritional risks. Eggs are 1 nutrient-dense strategy to increase nutrient quality. Objectives1) compare usual nutrient intakes, dietary reference intakes, and protein compliance with recommendations and scores of micronutrient quality; and 2) analyze how adding 1 egg affects adolescents’ nutrient profiles by food security status and egg-rich diets. MethodsDietary data of United States adolescents in the 2007–2018 NHANES were analyzed (14–17 y; n = 3633). Egg-rich diet levels were categorized as 1) noneggs, 2) eggs as ingredients in dishes, or 3) primarily egg dishes. Food security status was classified using the United States household food security survey module. The National Cancer Institute method was used to estimate usual nutrient intake and nutrient exposure scores [i.e., food nutrient index and total nutrient index(TNI)]. Nutrient amounts from 1 medium egg were modeled on existing intakes. Pairwise t-tests determined significant differences. ResultsOver 60% of adolescents risked inadequate intake of calcium, choline, magnesium, vitamin D, and vitamin E regardless of food security status. Food-secure adolescents consuming primarily egg dishes had higher mean usual intakes of lutein + zeaxanthin (1544.1 μg), choline (408.4 mg), vitamin B2 (2.3 mg), selenium (128.6 μg), vitamin D (6 μg), docosahexaenoic acid (70 mg), and protein (89.1 g) than other groups (P < 0.0002). Those consuming eggs as ingredients in dishes demonstrated higher nutrient adequacy for magnesium (scored ∼66 out of 100), potassium (scored 81), and total scores (scored 72 and 69, respectively) for the TNI and food nutrient index; and folate only (scored 92) for the TNI, than those not consuming eggs (P < 0.0002). Adding 1 egg increased choline and vitamin D usual intakes for some groups and nutrient index scores for all groups (P < 0.0005). ConclusionsAdolescents are at substantial nutritional risk that was exacerbated by food insecurity and less egg consumption.