Adolescents follow the healthy dietary habit of parents

Abstract

Introduction: An unhealthy diet in adolescence predisposes to non-communicable diseases. Adolescents from underprivileged families are more vulnerable due to difficulties in securing a healthy food environment. This study aimed to explore family factors associated with unhealthy diets of adolescents. Method: A cross-sectional study included 248 adolescents aged 10 to 19 years and their parents. Participants completed three questions on dietary habits embedded in a health survey from 2016 February to 2017 April. The selfreported daily consumption of the number of servings of 1) fruits and vegetable (FV) and 2) sugar sweetened beverages (SSB) were measured. Family factors included household income, household size, as well as parental factors (daily consumption of FV and SSB, marital status, education, employment and health status of the primary carer). The effects of these family factors on the daily consumption of FV and SSB of adolescents were assessed by multivariate linear regression. Results: Parents with older age and consumed less FV tended to be associated with lower consumption of FV in the adolescents (-0.136, p=0.032 and 0.336, p<0.01, respectively). Compared to families with monthly household income between HK$10,000 to HK$19,999 (reference), those with higher income had significantly less intake of SSB among the adolescents (0.281, p=0.040). After adjusting for covariates, there was a significant correlation in dietary consumptions between parents and adolescents for FV but not SSB (0.307, p<0.01 and 0.097, p=0.247, respectively). Compared to the reference household income, adolescents with household income below HK$10,000 had a healthier consumption pattern with higher FV and lower SSB intake (0.619, p=0.025 and -0.410, p=0.046, respectively). Conclusions: There is a strong association between parent and adolescent daily consumption of FV but not SSB regardless of parental education and working status. Parents should therefore be the target of interventions to promote healthy eating for adolescents.