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. 2024 May 10;21(1):56.
doi: 10.1186/s12966-024-01604-8.

Exploring the changing association between parental and adolescent fruit and vegetable intakes, from age 10 to 30 years

Tanya Braune  1 , Jean Adams  2 , Eleanor M Winpenny  2
Affiliations

Exploring the changing association between parental and adolescent fruit and vegetable intakes, from age 10 to 30 years

Tanya Braune et al. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. .

Abstract

Background: Adolescence is a pivotal developmental stage, where escalating rates of overweight and obesity have raised concerns about diet quality and its association with adverse health outcomes. Parents are known to have considerable influence on childhood diet, but how this influence changes as adolescents mature is unknown. This study investigates the association between parental fruit and vegetable (FV) intake and adolescent FV consumption, exploring how this changes across adolescence and when adolescents leave home.

Methods: Adolescents aged 10-30 years (n = 12,805) from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS), and their parents, reported FV intakes every 2 years. Multilevel linear regression models were fitted to assess associations between parental and adolescent FV intakes, investigating interactions with age and living arrangement, and adjusting for sociodemographic covariates.

Results: Parental FV intake was positively associated with adolescent FV intake (β = 0.20 [95%CI:0.19,0.22] portions/day), with the strength of this association lowest during early adolescence (10-14 years) and peaking at 17-18 years (β = 0.30 [95%CI: 0.27,0.33] portions/day). When adolescents no longer lived in the parental home, the association of parental FV intake with adolescent FV consumption decreased, but a positive association was maintained up to age 30 years.

Conclusions: Our findings emphasise the enduring effect of parental FV consumption on adolescent FV consumption, highlighting the potential for interventions to promote increased FV intake, acknowledging the lasting influence of parental diet, even beyond the confines of the parental home.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Sampling diagram of adolescent ages at each measurement wave of UKHLS
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Directed Acyclic Graph mapping hypothesised confounders and moderators of the relationship between parental FV intake and adolescent FV intake. Note: Parental FV intake (exposure) is hypothesised to be associated with adolescent FV intake (outcome). This association could be confounded by geographic region, ethnicity, parental education and household income, all of which potentially have causal associations with the exposure or the outcome. Adolescent FV intake could differ by sex, a competing exposure. Age of adolescent and living with parents are hypothesised moderators of the relationship between parental FV intake and adolescent FV intake. Created in www.dagitty.net
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Associations (beta coefficient) between parental FV and adolescent FV intake by age category of a multilevel linear regression model (n = 12,805). Error bars represent ± standard error
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Association between parental and adolescent FV intake at different ages, stratified by living arrangement. Sample included participants aged 17 years and older, n = 6,979 (living in the parental home), n = 2,297 (not living in the parental home). Error bars represent ± standard error
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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