Inclusion of pork meat in the diets of young women reduces their intakes of energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods: results from a randomized controlled trial.

Jennifer O Mcarthur ,Samir Samman,Peter Petocz,Natalie M Gough

doi:10.3390/nu6062320

Jennifer O Mcarthur , Samir Samman + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/nu6062320

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Journal: Nutrients	Publication Date: Jun 19, 2014
Citations: 29	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Sydney, Macquarie University

Abstract

Adherence of young women to dietary recommendations has been examined predominantly by surveys. This study aimed to determine the quality of women’s diets relative to the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating (AGHE); and to evaluate dietary changes during an intervention trial with pork meat or an iron supplement. A 12-week randomized trial was conducted in young women who were assigned to one of three groups. They maintained three, seven-day food diaries while continuing their routine diet (CG); taking an iron supplement (SG); or incorporating into their diets 500 g/week of pork (PG). Participants (n = 58) provided dietary information on 1218 diary-days. The serves consumed from the vegetable, fruit and dairy groups were lower (p < 0.001), and from the meat and alternatives group greater (p < 0.001) than the recommended serves. PG consumed significantly fewer (p < 0.001) serves of “extra” foods, and ate fruit more frequently (p < 0.001) than CG and SG. The participants’ dietary self-assessment showed poor agreement with the AGHE description of “serve”. The inclusion of pork in the diets of young women is associated with the reduced consumption of energy-dense nutrient-poor “extra” foods and increased frequency of fruit intake. The effect may be explained by diverse factors such as increased food knowledge, cooking skills and the effect of pork on satiety.

Highlights

Compromised iron status persists in young women despite access to an adequate food supply [1].This raises questions for nutrition experts who evaluate and disseminate knowledge about food in order to help individuals establish healthy eating practices
Each participant recorded data on 21 days providing a total of 1218 diary-days for analysis (CG = 420 records; pork diet group (PG) = 336 records; and supplement group (SG) = 462 records)
Kolodinsky et al [25] reported that college students with knowledge of dietary guidelines were better equipped to meet the recommended intakes of fruit, dairy and grain-based foods; and Anding et al [20] reported that the majority of the female students were meeting at least one of the seven (American) dietary guidelines

Summary

Introduction

Compromised iron status persists in young women despite access to an adequate food supply [1]. This raises questions for nutrition experts who evaluate and disseminate knowledge about food in order to help individuals establish healthy eating practices. As part of a three-month trial aimed at improving iron status in women by increasing their intakes of pork meat or iron supplements, we assessed the women’s daily food intake in order to study their food and nutrient management practices [2,3]. A closer examination is undertaken in the present study of the women’s customary diets and the impact of the intervention in relation to meeting the Dietary Guidelines for Australians (DGA). The DGA are publicly available along with complementary resources known as the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating (AGHE) [4]

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