P009 Diet Motives and Dietary Quality in Vegans, Vegetarians, and Semi-Vegetarians

Abstract

<h3>Background</h3> Plant-based diets have shown favorable dietary quality and chronic disease outcomes. However, differences in diet quality of vegan, vegetarians, and semi-vegetarians, considering motivations to adopt plant-based diets and nutrition literacy, are not well known. <h3>Objective</h3> Assess the quality of plant-based diets (vegan, vegetarians, and semi-vegetarians) and their association with motives and nutrition literacy. <h3>Study Design, Setting, Participants</h3> In this cross-sectional study, 222 participants recruited via social media ads completed an online survey and food frequency questionnaire. Majority of participants were female (85.6%), Caucasian (87.4%), and college-educated (85.6%). <h3>Measurable Outcome/Analysis</h3> The study used the Healthy Eating Index-2015 to measure dietary quality and the 64-item Nutrition Literacy Assessment Instrument to measure nutrition literacy. Participants selected their top motive for following their diet (8 options), which were categorized into health, ethics, or other (politics/taste). Kruskal Wallis and post-hoc tests were used to compare diet quality and nutrition literacy between diet types and motives. <h3>Results</h3> Of the respondents, 52.5% were vegan (no animal products), 22.9% were vegetarians (dairy and/or eggs, but no meat), and 24.7% were semi-vegetarians (meat ≤1x/week). When comparing diet types, vegans had higher diet quality (80.8 ± 6.5 out of 100, <i>P <</i> 0.001) compared to vegetarians (75.1 ± 9.1), and semi-vegetarians (76.8 ± 7.5). Ethics was the top diet motive for 69.4% of vegetarians, while health was the top motive for 50% of vegans and 45.3% of semi-vegetarians. Overall, ethics was the main motive for following a diet (49.3%), followed by health (40.8%), and other motivations (6.7%). Participants who selected health as their top motive had higher diet quality (80.6 ± 6.3, <i>P =</i> 0.002) than those who selected ethical reasons (77.1 ± 8.3) and other reasons (75.3 ± 8.9). No differences in nutrition literacy were observed between groups, the overall average score was 59.0 ± 3.1 (out of 64). <h3>Conclusions</h3> Participants had high diet quality and nutrition literacy. Adopting a diet primarily based on health and following a vegan diet were associated with better diet quality. Considering motivations can aid the development of tailored nutrition education to promote healthy dietary behaviors. <h3>Funding</h3> Circle of Friends Molly and Gene Rauen Endowed Research Assistance Award