Original article
Characteristics of vegetarian adolescents in a multiethnic urban population1

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1054-139X(01)00258-0Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose: To examine the prevalence of adolescents’ vegetarianism in a multiethnic, urban population, and its correlates with demographic, personal, weight-related, and behavioral factors.

Methods: Self-report and anthropometric data were collected from a representative sample of 4746 adolescents from 31 public middle schools and high schools in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. Students answered questions concerning vegetarianism, food and weight, and health behaviors. Height and weight were directly measured. Comparisons were made between self-reported vegetarians and nonvegetarians; these analyses also assessed gender and race/ethnicity interactions. In the second set of analyses, demographic and behavioral characteristics of more restricted and semi-vegetarians were examined. Analyses were done by logistic regression.

Results: Teenage vegetarians comprise about 6% of the sample. The vegetarians were more likely than nonvegetarians to be female, not black, weight- and body-conscious, dissatisfied with their bodies, and involved in a variety of healthy and unhealthy weight control behaviors. Vegetarians more often reported having been told by a physician that they had an eating disorder and were more likely to have contemplated and attempted suicide. Vegetarian males were found to be an especially high risk group for unhealthy weight control practices. Few ethnic group differences among vegetarians were noted. Adolescents who did not eat chicken and fish were at lower risk than those who also ate chicken and fish.

Conclusions: Adolescent vegetarians are at greater risk than others for involvement in unhealthy and extreme weight control behaviors. Vegetarian males are at particularly high risk. Vegetarianism among adolescents may therefore be a signal for preventive intervention. Adolescents who choose to become vegetarians may also need to learn how to healthfully do so.

Section snippets

Sample and study design

The study population included 4746 adolescents from 31 public middle schools and high schools in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. Participants were equally divided by gender (50.2% males, 49.8% females). The mean age of the study population was 14.9 years (range 11 – 18 years); 34.3% were in junior high school and 65.7% in high school. The racial/ethnic backgrounds of the participants were as follows: 48.5% Caucasian, 19.0% African-American, 19.2% Asian-American, 5.8% Hispanic, 3.5% Native

Results

There were 262 self-reported adolescent vegetarians in the study or 5.8% of the sample. Among the vegetarians, nearly three-fourths (73.7%) were female. Nearly half (47.5%) of the vegetarians were white, 26.8% were Asian, 11.1% were black, 5.8% were Hispanic, 5.0% were American Indian, and the remaining 4% were Hawaiian/Pacific Islander or Other. Because there were so few Hispanic, American Indian, and Mixed/Other vegetarians, race/ethnicity analyses were confined to Whites, Blacks, and Asians.

Discussion

Vegetarians comprise about 6% of our urban, multiethnic group sample of adolescents. The vegetarians were, as hypothesized, more likely than nonvegetarians to be female, not black, weight- and body-conscious, dissatisfied with their bodies, and involved in a variety of healthy and unhealthy weight control behaviors. Vegetarians, contrary to our hypotheses, were less likely to be in high school and less health conscious than nonvegetarians. In fact, they reported caring less about being healthy,

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by grant MCJ-270834 (D. Neumark-Sztainer, principal investigator) from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (Title V, Social Security Act), Health Resources and Service Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

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