Adolescent vegetarians - A behavioral profile of a school-based population in Minnesota

Objective: To compare a population-based sample of vegetarian and nonvegetarian adolescents regarding food intake patterns, disordered eating, and a range of other non-food-related health-compromising and health-promoting behaviors. Design: A cross-sectional school-based survey. Setting: Public schools within nonurban areas of Minnesota. Participants: Adolescents (n=107) aged 12 to 20 years who reported on the Minnesota Adolescent Health Survey that they follow a vegetarian diet and a comparison group of nonvegetarian youth (n=214) matched for sex, age, and ethnicity. The percentage of self-identified vegetarians in the study population was relatively low (0.6%); most of the vegetarians were female (81%). Main Outcome Measures: Food intake patterns, disordered eating (frequent dieting, binge eating, self-induced vomiting, and laxative use), health-compromising behaviors (tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use and suicide attempts), and health-promoting behaviors (seat belt use, physical activity, and brushing teeth regularly). Results: Vegetarian adolescents were twice as likely to consume fruits and vegetables (P<.001), one third as likely to consume sweets (P<.001),and one fourth as likely to eat salty snack foods (P<.001) more than once a day compared with nonvegetarians. Vegetarians were almost mice as likely to report frequent dieting (P<.001), 4 times as likely to report intentional vomiting (P<.001), and 8 times as likely to report laxative use (P<.001) than nonvegetarians. Overall, associations with other health-compromising and health-promoting behaviors were not apparent. Conclusions: A vegetarian diet may be beneficial because of increased fruit and vegetable consumption and decreased consumption of foods high in fat, salt, and sugar. However, adolescents following a vegetarian diet need to be screened for adequate food intake and potential disordered eating behaviors.