Previous research indicated that young adults often consume high quantity of convenience fast foods resulting in high dietary intake of total and saturated fats and minimal intake of fresh fruit and vegetables ( Reference Troiano, Briefel, Carroll and Bialostosky 1 ). This has had a negative impact upon the health status of the young adults suggesting that they may be vulnerable to unhealthy dietary practices and positive energy intakes ( Reference Hoffman, Policastro, Quick and Lee 2 ). Previous studies have indicated controversial findings that there may be a gender variation in nutritional status of this population ( Reference Davy, Benes and Driskell 3 ); while average absolute nutrient intake for young men is often understandably higher than female counteracts, the studies often do not take into account the difference body size and composition and the impact of variation in energy intake and requirements of males and females. The purpose of this study was to assess the potential gender variation in nutritional status and quality of diet of young adults in residing in North West of England.
After securing ethical approval, 238 young adults aged 18–25 years were recruited in a cross-sectional study. Laboratory and physical measures of nutritional status such as biomarkers of fasting capillary blood glucose and lipid profile, weight, height, percentage body fat, BMI and blood pressure were assessed. Energy and macronutrient intake was measured using a validated 3-day diet diary and analysed using dietary assessment software Microdiet. Normal distribution was investigated using the Shapiro-Wilk test of normality and because the main variables were not normally distributed (P < 0·05) and gender variation in nutritional status was investigated via nonparametric Mann Whitney U-Test using SPSS 22. Statistical significance was set at 0·05.
For females, the median percentage contributions of carbohydrate, fat, saturated fat and free sugar were significantly higher than males, whilst the median percentage contribution of protein was higher for males. Within fasting capillary blood lipid biomarkers, the median blood glucose concentration was significantly higher in males in comparison with females (Table 1).
Table 1. The median value for biomarkers and energy contribution from macronutrients between genders
Higher contribution of total fat, SFA and free sugar to the energy intake of young females in comparison with males would warrants further investigation. This is particularly important as current levels of consumption are above the Dietary Reference Values and prolonged regular intake at this level may enhance the risk of non communicable diseases such as Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
