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Mediation of psychosocial determinants in the relation between socio-economic status and adolescents’ diet quality

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Abstract

Purpose

To examine the underlying reasons for the positive relation between socio-economic status (SES) and the diet quality of adolescents.

Methods

In 2081 adolescents (12.5–17.5 years) of the European HELENA study, a continuous variable on diet quality via 2-day 24-h recalls was available. SES was reflected by parental education, parental occupation and family affluence. Mediation by several psychosocial determinants was tested: self-efficacy, availability at school and home, social support, barriers, benefits, awareness and some self-reported influencers (parents, school, taste, health, friends, food readily available, easy preparation, hunger, price and habits). Multiple mediation analyses were adjusted for age, sex and country.

Results

The availability of soft drinks and fruit at home, social support, parental influence, barriers, price influence, taste influence, health influence and food being readily available were significant mediators. The multiple mediation indirect effect accounted for 23–64% of the total effect. Both occupation and education and both maternal and paternal factors could be explained by the mediation. The unavailability of soft drinks was the strongest mediator (17–44% of the total effect).

Conclusion

Up to 64% of the positive relation between SES and the diet quality in adolescence could be explained by several healthy eating determinants. Focusing on these factors in low-SES populations can minimize social inequalities in diet and health by improving the diet of these specific adolescents.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all fieldworkers and all participating adolescents. We acknowledge the work of Louise Sarrazyn and Laura Vancoppernolle in doing some preliminary analyses during their master thesis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, De Pintelaan 185–4K3, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Nathalie Michels, Lisa Vynckier, Inge Huybrechts, Isabel Iguacel & Stefaan De Henauw

  2. GENUD (Growth, Exercise, NUtrition and Development) Research Group, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Zaragoza, , Edificio del SAI, C/Pedro Cerbuna s/n, 50009, Zaragoza, Spain

    Luis A. Moreno

  3. Centre d’Investigation Clinique CH&U Inserm, Bd Pr Leclercq, Hôpital Cardiologique, Lille Cedex, France

    Laurent Beghin

  4. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Granada University, Granada, Spain

    Alex de la O

  5. School of Education, Health and Social Sciences, Dalarna University, Falun, Sweden

    Maria Forsner

  6. Department of Health and Human Performance, Facultad de Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Marcela Gonzalez-Gross

  7. Nutrition and Metabolism Section, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France

    Inge Huybrechts

  8. School of Medicine, University of Crete, Crete, Greece

    Antonio Kafatos

  9. Research Institute of Child Nutrition, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Dortmund, Germany

    Mathilde Kersting

  10. INRAN (National Research Institute on Food and Nutrition), Via Ardeatina, 546I00176, Roma, Italy

    Catherine Leclercq

  11. Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece

    Yannis Manios

  12. Department of Metabolism and Nutrition, ICTAN Institute Frı´o Spanish National Research Council C/ Jose´ Antonio Novais, Madrid, 28000, Spain

    Ascension Marcos

  13. Department of Pediatrics, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary

    Denes Molnar

  14. Department of BioScience and Nutrition, Karolinska institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Michael Sjöström

  15. Department of Pediatrics, Division of Clinical Nutrition, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Kurt Widhalm

Authors
  1. Nathalie Michels
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  2. Lisa Vynckier
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  3. Luis A. Moreno
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  4. Laurent Beghin
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  18. Stefaan De Henauw
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Correspondence to Nathalie Michels.

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The HELENA Study was carried out with the financial support of the European Community Sixth RTD Framework Programme (Contract FOODCT-2005-007034). The writing group takes sole responsibility for the content of this article. The European Community is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

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Michels, N., Vynckier, L., Moreno, L.A. et al. Mediation of psychosocial determinants in the relation between socio-economic status and adolescents’ diet quality. Eur J Nutr 57, 951–963 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-017-1380-8

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