Teen Vegetarians Healthier Than Meat-Eaters
Researchers Studied More Than 4,000 Adolescents
POSTED: 9:40 a.m. EDT May 13, 2002
Is vegetarianism the key to healthy teens?
Adolescents who eat a vegetarian diet are more likely to meet the Healthy People 2010 objectives by consuming less total fat and saturated fat, and eat more servings of fruits and vegetables than their nonvegetarian counterparts, according to a new study.
University of Minnesota researchers studied adolescents from 31 midldle and high schools in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota during the 1998 and 1999 school year. The average age of the teens was 14.9 years. They used questionnaires to identify vegetarians, dividing them into lacto-ovo vegans (those who eat eggs and dairy products but no meat at all), vegans (who do not meat of any kind, eggs, or dairy products) and semi-vegetarians (eat chicken and fish but no other meat), along with other overall eating habits.
The results are published in the May issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Healthy People 2010 was issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and lists several dietary objectives for leading a healthy lifestyle, such as obtaining less than 30 percent of one's daily calories from fat and less than 10 percent from saturated fat, eating more than two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables daily.
Of the 4,521 adolescents studied, 262 reported being vegetarians. Among the vegetarians, 73.7 percent were female and 47.8 percent were white and 26.8 percent were Asian.
"Overall, adolescent vegetarians were significantly more likely to meet the dietary recommendations of Healthy People 2010," the researchers wrote. They said that vegetarian adolescents were more than twice as likely to eat less than 30 percent of their calories from fat and nearly three times more likely to eat less than 10 percent of their calories from saturated fat.
The researchers found that adolescent vegetarians consumed less vitamin B12, cholesterol, regular soda, fruit drink and fast food. They consumed more iron, vitamin A, folate, caffeine, fiber and diet soda.
Both vegetarian and nonvegetarian adolescents in the study groups did not meet the recommended daily intake for calcium, with only 30 percent ingesting the recommended amount.
Most reported that their prime incentive for their vegetarian diet was to keep off weight.
"It seems that rather than viewing adolescent vegetarianism as a difficult phase or fad, the dietary pattern could be viewed as a healthy alternative to the traditional American meat-based diet," the researchers wrote. "With careful planning, using the vegetarian food guide pyramid as a guide, vegetarian adolescents could learn proper nutritional patterns and practices that could lead to a life-long dietary practice that might be salutary for themselves and their families in the future."
In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Stanly Zlotkin from the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, said that comments that determining dietary intake by questionnaire has its limitations.
He said self-reporting is always less accurate than first-hand research, and the questionnaires lack specificity of portion sizes and the ability to assess nutrient content of nonstandard dishes.
He added that fewer than 100 of the subjects who identified themselves as vegetarians ate diets free of meat, poultry and fish.
"Thus, the comparisons in this study were between red meat eaters and non-red meat eaters," Zlotkin said.
Adolescents who eat a vegetarian diet are more likely to meet the Healthy People 2010 objectives by consuming less total fat and saturated fat, and eat more servings of fruits and vegetables than their nonvegetarian counterparts, according to a new study.
University of Minnesota researchers studied adolescents from 31 midldle and high schools in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota during the 1998 and 1999 school year. The average age of the teens was 14.9 years. They used questionnaires to identify vegetarians, dividing them into lacto-ovo vegans (those who eat eggs and dairy products but no meat at all), vegans (who do not meat of any kind, eggs, or dairy products) and semi-vegetarians (eat chicken and fish but no other meat), along with other overall eating habits.
The results are published in the May issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Healthy People 2010 was issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and lists several dietary objectives for leading a healthy lifestyle, such as obtaining less than 30 percent of one's daily calories from fat and less than 10 percent from saturated fat, eating more than two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables daily.
Of the 4,521 adolescents studied, 262 reported being vegetarians. Among the vegetarians, 73.7 percent were female and 47.8 percent were white and 26.8 percent were Asian.
"Overall, adolescent vegetarians were significantly more likely to meet the dietary recommendations of Healthy People 2010," the researchers wrote. They said that vegetarian adolescents were more than twice as likely to eat less than 30 percent of their calories from fat and nearly three times more likely to eat less than 10 percent of their calories from saturated fat.
The researchers found that adolescent vegetarians consumed less vitamin B12, cholesterol, regular soda, fruit drink and fast food. They consumed more iron, vitamin A, folate, caffeine, fiber and diet soda.
Both vegetarian and nonvegetarian adolescents in the study groups did not meet the recommended daily intake for calcium, with only 30 percent ingesting the recommended amount.
Most reported that their prime incentive for their vegetarian diet was to keep off weight.
"It seems that rather than viewing adolescent vegetarianism as a difficult phase or fad, the dietary pattern could be viewed as a healthy alternative to the traditional American meat-based diet," the researchers wrote. "With careful planning, using the vegetarian food guide pyramid as a guide, vegetarian adolescents could learn proper nutritional patterns and practices that could lead to a life-long dietary practice that might be salutary for themselves and their families in the future."
In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Stanly Zlotkin from the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, said that comments that determining dietary intake by questionnaire has its limitations.
He said self-reporting is always less accurate than first-hand research, and the questionnaires lack specificity of portion sizes and the ability to assess nutrient content of nonstandard dishes.
He added that fewer than 100 of the subjects who identified themselves as vegetarians ate diets free of meat, poultry and fish.
"Thus, the comparisons in this study were between red meat eaters and non-red meat eaters," Zlotkin said.
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