Dietary intake among young adolescents in Ontario: associations with vegetarian status and attitude toward health

Background. This study aimed to describe the dietary intakes of adolescent vegetarians and omnivores and determine if, and how, attitude toward personal health related to food consumption. Methods. Among grade 9 students in Ontario, Canada (n = 630), vegetarian status and estimated consumption of foods and food groups were determined by food frequency questionnaire. Personal health was self-categorized as very important (the “health conscious”) or somewhat/not important (the “non-health conscious”). Results. The prevalence of vegetarianism was 6.5% (CI = 4.6–8.4%) among females and 1.0% (CI = 0.2–1.8%) among males. Health-conscious omnivores consumed more grain, vegetables and fruit, and milk product than non-health-conscious omnivores (P < 0.05). Health-conscious vegetarians ingested more grain products, vegetables and fruit, and meat and alternatives than non-health-conscious vegetarians (P < 0.05). Among non-health-conscious vegetarians, none consumed two daily servings of meat and alternatives compared to 60.5% of non-health-conscious omnivores (P < 0.001). Among health-conscious vegetarians, milk product consumption was lower than that of health-conscious omnivores (P = 0.015). Conclusions. Large proportions of both vegetarian and omnivore adolescents consumed suboptimal diets. Health consciousness had value as an indicator of dietary adequacy and may be useful as a rudimentary screen for problematic dietary consumption patterns.