Patterns of food preparation in children and adult diets and their associations with demographic and socio-economic characteristics, health and nutritional status, physical activity, and diet quality

Mariana Correia Castro Rei, Daniela Macedo Correia, Duarte Paulo Martins Torres, Carla Maria Moura Lopes, Ana Isabel Almeida Costa, Sara Simões Pereira Rodrigues*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This cross-sectional study aimed to identify patterns of food preparation and examine their demographic and socio-economic drivers, along with impacts on health and nutritional status, physical activity, and diet quality. Dietary data from a national-representative sample (n = 5005, 3–84 years) of the Portuguese National Food, Nutrition, and Physical Activity Survey (IAN-AF 2015/16) were classified by preparation locations (at or away from home) and analysed via hierarchical clustering. Logistic regression models were used to examine associations between demographic and socio-economic factors and food preparation patterns and between these patterns and health and nutritional status, physical activity, and diet quality. The most common food preparation pattern (followed by 45.4% of participants) represented the highest intake of foods prepared by away-from-home establishments. Adolescents (vs. children, OR = 0.29, 95%CI = 0.17, 0.49) and older adults (vs. adults, OR = 0.37, 95%CI = 0.26, 0.53) had lower odds of following this pattern, whereas adult men (vs. women, OR = 4.20, 95% CI = 3.17, 5.57) had higher odds. Higher education, higher household income, and having children/adolescents in the household also increased the odds of eating foods prepared away from home, whereas living in rural areas or in food-insecure households decreased the odds. Noticeably, adults consuming more foods prepared away from home had lower odds of being overweight or obese (OR = 0.74, 95%CI = 0.56, 0.97), but higher odds of sedentarism (OR = 1.45, 95%CI = 1.08, 1.96) and poor diet (OR = 3.01, 95%CI = 2.08, 4.34) compared to those consuming more foods prepared at home by themselves. Dietary patterns marked by high away-from-home food preparation prevail. While these correlated with higher socio-economic status, sedentarism, and poorer diet — relatively to patterns with greater reliance on homecooked food — they were not linked to higher odds of obesity.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere10
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of Nutritional Science
Volume14
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 23 Jan 2025

Keywords

  • Cross-sectional
  • Diet quality
  • Food preparation patterns
  • Home cooking
  • Public health factors

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Patterns of food preparation in children and adult diets and their associations with demographic and socio-economic characteristics, health and nutritional status, physical activity, and diet quality'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this