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Community and Public Health Nutrition (Poster Session)

(P20-027-24) Adults Who Obtain More Food Away From Home (FAFH) Meals Are Less Likely To Have Mediterranean Dietary Pattern: A Latent Class Profile Analysis of NHANES Dietary Data, 2017–2020

Monday, July 1, 2024
12:45 PM – 1:45 PM CT
Location: Poster Board 521

    Presenting Author(s)

  • Nicole Farmer, MD

    Tenure Track Investigator
    NIH Clinical Center
    Bethesda, Maryland, United States

    • Co-Author(s)

  • LL

    Lena Lee

    NIH Clinical Center, United States

  • ES

    Elisa Son

    NIH Clinical Center, United States

  • LY

    Li Yang, PhD

    Statistician
    NIH
    Bethesda, Maryland, United States

Disclosure(s):
Nicole Farmer, MD: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.


Objectives: Studies show an association between the intake of food away from home (FAFH) and less adherence to U.S. dietary guidelines, as measured by the Healthy Eating Index (HEI). However, dietary patterns may be complex necessitating evaluation with advanced statistical modeling, such as latent class profile analysis (LCPA). We thus sought to determine combinations of foods/food groups present within the diet of U.S. adults based on weekly obtainment of FAFH meals.

Methods: Using data from the 2017-2020 the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cycles, we determined HEI-2015 scores for U.S. adults (≥19 years of age) from 24-hour recall data. FAFH consumption over the prior week was determined by responses to the Dietary Behavior Questionnaire. Sociodemographic data were included as co-variates. LCPA was conducted based on dietary recall data. SPSS Complex Samples were used for general linear model and regression analysis. Mplus version 8.6 was used for the weighted LCPA analysis.

Results: Among the NHANES sample (n = 7,897, mean age 47.85 (SE=0.56), female gender 51.9%, mean BMI 29.80 (SE=0.54), married 62.4%. The median number of meals prepared away from home was 3 (0, 21). Individuals who had FAFH meals below the sample median had an HEI score of 48.23 (SE=0.56), conversely the HEI-15 score for those above the median was 52.0 (SE=0.52). LCPA analysis resulted in four dietary classes: two classes with low vegetable and whole grain intake, Standard American Diet (SAD) with low sodium (14%), SAD with high sodium (52%), and two classes with high vegetable and whole grain intake, Healthy Mediterranean (26%) and Health U.S. Style Pattern (7%). Classes were significantly associated (p < 0.05) with gender, race/ethnicity, marital status, education, nativity, and household income, but not age (p=0.18). Regression analysis controlling for all significant variables, showed that adults who reported 3 or more weekly FAFH were significantly less likely to be categorized into the Healthy Mediterranean Class (β=-.244, p< 0.001), but not other dietary classes.

Conclusions: Among U.S. adults a higher amount of weekly FAFH meals is less likely to be associated with an optimal HEI-15 score and a dietary pattern consistent with a healthy Mediterranean diet.

Funding Sources: NIH Intramural Research Program National Institutes of Health Clinical Center