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Dietary patterns and young adult body mass change: A 9-year longitudinal study

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Abstract

Purpose

While excessive weight gain is highest during young adulthood, the extent to which specific dietary patterns are associated with changes in measures of body mass in this course of life remains unknown. We aimed to examine the associations of dietary patterns at 21 years with changes in body weight and body mass index (BMI) between 21 and 30 years.

Methods

We used data on young adults from a long-running birth cohort in Australia. Western and prudent dietary patterns were identified applying principal component analysis to 33 food groups obtained by a food frequency questionnaire at 21 years. Body weight and height were measured at 21 and 30 years. Multivariable regression models, using generalized estimating equations, were adjusted for concurrent changes in sociodemographic and lifestyle variables in evaluating the effect of identified dietary patterns on changes in weight and BMI over time.

Results

In the fully adjusted model, young adults in the highest tertile of the Western pattern had a mean weight gain of 9.9 (95% CI 8.5, 11.3) kg compared to those in the lowest that had a mean weight gain of 7.1 (95% CI 5.6, 8.5) kg, P-for linear trend = 0.0015. The corresponding values for mean gains in BMI were 3.1 (95% CI 2.7, 3.6) kg/m2 for young adults in the highest tertile compared to 2.4 (95% CI 1.9, 2.9) kg/m2 for those in lowest, P-for linear trend = 0.0164. There was no evidence of a significant association between the prudent pattern and mean changes in each outcome over time in this study.

Conclusions

The findings of the current study show that greater adherence to the Western diet at 21 years was positively associated with increases in body weight and BMI from 21 to 30 years of age, whereas the prudent diet had no significant association with these outcomes. The findings provide evidence that the adverse effects of the Western diet on weight gain in young adulthood could partly be prevented through optimising diet in the early course of life.

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Data availability

Data described in the manuscript, code book, and analytic code are available from the first or last author based on a reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the participants of the MUSP birth cohort and the management team. The authors are grateful to Petra Lehmann for preparing the 21-years dietary data and assisting with dietary pattern analysis.

Funding

MUSP birth cohort study was supported by the National and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) (Grant Number NHMRC Grant No. 210298). None of the authors have received commercial or private funding for any component of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, 266 Herston Rd, Herston, QLD, 4006, Australia

    Tolassa W. Ushula, Darsy Darssan, Gail M. Williams & Jake M. Najman

  2. UQ Poche Centre for Indigenous Health, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, The University of Queensland, 74 High Street, Toowong, QLD, 4066, Australia

    Abdullah Mamun

  3. The ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families Over the Life Course, The University of Queensland, 80 Meiers Road, Indooroopilly, QLD, 4068, Australia

    Abdullah Mamun

  4. Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    William Y. S. Wang

  5. College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan, 107 Wiggins Rd, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

    Susan J. Whiting

  6. Nutrition and Dietetics Department, Faculty of Public Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia

    Tolassa W. Ushula

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  1. Tolassa W. Ushula
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  2. Abdullah Mamun
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  4. William Y. S. Wang
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  7. Jake M. Najman
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Contributions

J.M.N., A.M., and G.M.W.: conducted the overall MUSP birth cohort study; T.W.U. conceptualized the idea of the study; T.W.U. performed the statistical analyses, drafted the manuscript and had primary responsibility for the final content; G.M.W.: provided SAS codes and materials on GEE; A.M.: supported with the statistical analyses; and all authors critically reviewed drafts of the manuscript; S.J.W. provided important intellectual content.

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Correspondence to Tolassa W. Ushula.

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Ushula, T.W., Mamun, A., Darssan, D. et al. Dietary patterns and young adult body mass change: A 9-year longitudinal study. Eur J Nutr 62, 1657–1666 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-023-03101-3

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