Healthier or not? A closer look at the quality of plant-based diets
Not all plant-based diets are equal and few studies have distinguished between healthy and unhealthy diets. The health and nutritional status of vegan and vegetarian children and adolescents is even more controversial and data is scarce.
Factsheet
- Schools involved School of Health Professions
- Institute(s) Nutrition and Dietetics
- Strategic thematic field Thematic field "Sustainable Development"
- Funding organisation Others
- Duration 01.06.2022 - 31.05.2025
- Head of project Prof. Dr. Leonie-Helen Bogl
-
Project staff
Prof. Lauren Lissner
Dr. Masip Guiomar -
Partner
I. Family Konsortium
Fördergeber: Stiftung Eskhagastiftelsenlsen
University of Gothenburg - Keywords plant-based diets, veganism, vegeterianism, diet quality score, dietary patterns
Situation
Plant-based diets have gained increasing popularity in recent years. This strong global trend has led to a debate among international experts about the potential health benefits and risks of such diets, particularly the safety of vegan diets. The health and nutritional status of vegan and vegetarian children and adolescents is even more controversial and data on vegan children is scarce. While vegetarians typically only exclude meat, fish, and poultry, vegans abstain from all animal products. The more restrictive a diet, the higher the risk of nutritional deficiencies. Previous studies on vegans have not considered diet quality but rather analyzed vegans as one homogenous group, comparing their nutrition and health status with those of vegetarians and Plant-based diets have gained increasing popularity in recent years. This strong global trend has led to a debate among international experts about the potential health benefits and risks of such diets, particularly the safety of vegan diets. The health and nutritional status of vegan and vegetarian children and adolescents is even more controversial and data on vegan children is scarce.
Course of action
The aim of this study was to develop and validate three Plant-Based Diet Propensity (PBDP) scores – one overall, one healthy and one unhealthy – in order to map plant-based dietary patterns and investigate their associations with nutrient intakes and health indicators in children, adolescents and adults. This cross-sectional study involving children, adolescents and adults used data from the I.Family study (n = 15,780 participants) from eight European countries. Diet was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire. The overall PBDP score was constructed by categorising all plant-based food groups as positive and all animal-based food groups as negative. The ‘healthy PBDP’ emphasised healthy plant-based food groups, while the ‘unhealthy PBDP’ highlighted less healthy plant-based food groups. Validity was tested using correlations with nutrient intake and comparisons between different demographic groups. In addition, correlations with health indicators were analysed.
Result
The PBDP scores showed correlations with nutrient intake. Higher total and healthy PBDP scores were more common in women, adults, individuals with higher parental education levels, and in Belgium and Spain. A higher healthy PBDP score was associated with higher HDL cholesterol levels, better bone health, and lower triglycerides. The unhealthy PBDP score was associated with lower HDL cholesterol in adults, but not in children or adolescents. PBDP scores reliably describe plant-based dietary patterns across different demographic groups and are particularly valid and reliable in adults. However, the results highlight challenges in assessing dietary patterns in children and adolescents. Future research should address these challenges to improve the validity of PBDP scores in younger populations.
