Where do adolescents eat less-healthy foods? Correspondence analysis and logistic regression results from the UK national diet and nutrition survey

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between the consumption of foods and eating locations (home, school/work and others) in British adolescents, using data from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey Rolling Program (2008–2012 and 2013–2016). A cross-sectional analysis of 62,523 food diary entries from this nationally representative sample was carried out for foods contributing up to 80% total energy to the daily adolescent’s diet. Correspondence analysis (CA) was used to generate food–location relationship hypotheses followed by logistic regression (LR) to quantify the evidence in terms of odds ratios and formally test those hypotheses. The less-healthy foods that emerged from CA were chips, soft drinks, chocolate and meat pies. Adjusted odds ratios (99% CI) for consuming specific foods at a location “other” than home (H) or school/work (S) in the 2008–2012 survey sample were: for soft drinks, 2.8 (2.1 to 3.8) vs. H and 2.0 (1.4 to 2.8) vs. S; for chips, 2.8 (2.2 to 3.7) vs. H and 3.4 (2.1 to 5.5) vs. S; for chocolates, 2.6 (1.9 to 3.5) vs. H and 1.9 (1.2 to 2.9) vs. S; and for meat pies, 2.7 (1.5 to 5.1) vs. H and 1.3 (0.5 to 3.1) vs. S. These trends were confirmed in the 2013–2016 survey sample. Interactions between location and BMI were not significant in either sample. In conclusion, public health policies to discourage less-healthy food choices in locations away from home and school/work are warranted for adolescents, irrespective of their BMI.