Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T07:55:00.242Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Food habits of young Swedish and Norwegian vegetarians and omnivores

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

Christel L Larsson ,
Kristin S Klock ,
Anne Nordrehaug Åstrøm ,
Ola Haugejorden  and
Gunnar Johansson
Christel L Larsson*
Affiliation:
Department of Food and Nutrition, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden
Kristin S Klock
Affiliation:
Department of Odontology – Community Dentistry, University of Bergen, Aarstadveien 17, N-5003 Bergen, Norway
Anne Nordrehaug Åstrøm
Affiliation:
Department of Odontology – Community Dentistry, University of Bergen, Aarstadveien 17, N-5003 Bergen, Norway Centre for International Health, University of Bergen, Armauer Hansen Building, N-5021 Bergen, Norway
Ola Haugejorden
Affiliation:
Department of Odontology – Community Dentistry, University of Bergen, Aarstadveien 17, N-5003 Bergen, Norway
Gunnar Johansson
Affiliation:
Department of Food and Nutrition, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden
*
*Corresponding author: Email christel.larsson@kost.umu.se
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Objective:

To determine the prevalence of vegetarianism and compare food habits among vegetarian and omnivorous adolescents in Sweden and Norway.

Design:

Cross-sectional study by questionnaire in Sweden and Norway to gather information about food habits.

Setting:

The municipalities of Umeå and Stockholm in Sweden, and Bergen in Norway.

Subjects:

In total 2041 ninth-grade students (578 from Umeå, 504 from Stockholm and 959 from Bergen), mean age 15.5 years, were included. The response rate was 95% in Umeå, 91% in Stockholm and 83% in Bergen.

Results:

There was a significantly higher prevalence of vegetarianism in Umeå (15.6%) than in Stockholm (4.8%) and Bergen (3.8%). Vegetarians generally wanted more information about a healthy diet and vegetarian females ate dietary supplements to prevent deficiencies more often than omnivorous females (P < 0.01). The young male vegetarians more or less excluded animal products from their diet without changing their food frequency intake or modifying their dietary habits in other respects, while the young female vegetarians more often consumed vegetables and dietary supplements (P < 0.05). However, there was no difference between the intake of fruits/berries, alcoholic beverages, ice cream, sweets/chocolates and fast foods by vegetarians compared with omnivores.

Conclusions:

There were three to four times more vegetarians in Umeå than in Stockholm and Bergen. The food habits of the young vegetarians differed from those of omnivorous adolescents and also in some respects from previously published comparative studies of vegetarians' and omnivores' food habits. It is uncertain whether the health benefits shown in previous studies on vegetarianism will be experienced by this young generation of vegetarians.

Keywords

AdolescentsFood habitsFood intakeHealthPrevalenceVegetarians
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 4 , Issue 5 , October 2001 , pp. 1005 - 1014
Copyright
Copyright © CABI Publishing 2001

References

1White, R, Frank, E. Health effects and prevalence of vegetarianism. West. J. Med. 1994; 160: 465–71.Google ScholarPubMed
2Larsson, C, Johansson, G. Prevalence of vegetarians in Swedish secondary schools. Scand. J. Nutr. 1997; 41: 117–20.Google Scholar
3Frost Andersen, L. Personal communication concerning UNGKOST-93 conducted in 1993, Institute for Nutrition Research, Oslo, Norway, 1999.Google Scholar
4Neumark-Sztainer, D, Story, M, Resnich, M, Blum, RW. Adolescent vegetarians. Arch. Pediatr. Adolesc. Med. 1997; 151: 833–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5Kenyon, P, Barker, M. Attitudes towards meat-eating in vegetarian and non-vegetarian teenage girls in England – an ethnographic approach. Appetite. 1998; 30: 185–98.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6Santos, M, Booth, D. Influences on meat avoidance among British students. Appetite 1996; 27: 197–205.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7Kim, EH, Schroeder, KM, Houser, RF, Dwyer, JT. Two small surveys, 25 years apart, investigating motivations of dietary choice in 2 groups of vegetarians in the Boston area. J. Am. Diet. Assoc. 1999; 99: 598–601.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8Worsley, A, Skrzypiec, G. Teenage vegetarianism: beauty or the beast?. Nutr. Res. (New York) 1997; 17: 391–404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9Martins, Y, Pliner, P. Restrained eating among vegetarians: does a vegetarian eating style mask concern about weight?. Appetite 1999; 32: 145–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10White, R, Seymour, J, Frank, E. Vegetarianism among US women physicians. J. Am. Diet. Assoc. 1999; 99: 595–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11Key, TJ, Fraser, GE, Thorogood, M, Appleby, PN, Beral, V, Reeves, G, Burr, ML, Chang-Claude, J, Frentzel-Beyme, R, Kuzman, JW, Mann, J, McPherson, K. Mortality in vegetarians and nonvegetarians: detailed findings from a collaborative analysis of 5 prospective studies. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1999; 70: 516S–24S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12Dwyer, JT. Health aspects of vegetarian diets. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1988; 48: 712–38.Google Scholar
13Dwyer, JT. Nutritional consequences of vegetarianism. Annu. Rev. Nutr. 1991; 11: 61–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14Sabate, J. Nut consumption, vegetarian diet, ischemic heart disease risk, and all-cause mortality: evidence from epidemiologic studies. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1999; 70: 500S–3S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15Johansson, G, Callmer, E, Gustafsson, J-Å. Changing from a mixed diet to a Scandinavian vegetarian diet: effects on nutrient intake, food choice, meal pattern and cooking methods. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 1992; 46: 707–16.Google ScholarPubMed
16Worsley, A, Skrzypiec, G. Teenage vegetarianism: prevalence, social and cognitive contexts. Appetite 1998; 30: 151–170.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17ADA Reports. Position paper on the vegetarian approach to eating. J. Am. Diet. Assoc. 1980; 77: 61–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18Ratzin, R. Nutritional concerns for the vegetarian recreational athlete. In: Ratzin Jackson, C, ed. Nutrition for the Recreational Athlete. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, Inc., 1995: 93–110.Google Scholar
19Neumark-Sztainer, D, Story, M, Perry, C, Casey, MA. Factors influencing food choices of adolescents: findings from focus-group discussions with adolescents. J. Am. Diet. Assoc. 1999; 99: 929–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20Beardsworth, A, Keil, E. Vegetarianism, veganism and meat avoidance: recent trends and findings. Br. Food J 1991; 93: 19–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21Bergströ, E. Cardiovascular risk indicators in adolescents: the Umeå youth study. Doctoral thesis, Umeå University, Sweden, 1995.Google Scholar
22Lifshitz, F, Tarim, O, Smith, MM. Nutrition in adolescence. Endocrinol. Metab. Clin. North Am. 1993; 22: 673–83.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
23Messina, V. Popular perceptions of vegetarian diets: is the pendulum swinging the other way? [comment]. Vegetarian Nutr.. 1998; 2: 37–9.Google Scholar
24Freeland-Graves, J. Health practices, attitudes, and beliefs of vegetarians and nonvegetarians. J. Am. Diet. Assoc. 1986; 86: 913–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
25Midtvedt, T, Johansson, G, Carlstedt-Duke, B, Midtvedt, A, Norin, K, Gustafsson, J. The effect of a shift from a mixed to a lacto-vegetarian diet on some intestinal microflora associated characteristics. Microbial Ecol. Health Dis. 1990; 3: 33–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26Åkesson, A. Cadmium exposure and iron status. Doctoral thesis, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, 2000.Google Scholar
27Donovan, UM, Gibson, RS. Dietary intakes of adolescent females consuming vegetarian, semi-vegetarian, and omnivorous diets. J. Adolesc. Health. 1996; 18: 292–300.Google Scholar
28Hardinge, M, Crooks, H. Non-flesh dietaries: adequate and inadequate. J. Am. Diet. Assoc. 1964; 45: 537–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
29Outila, T, Kärkkäinen, M, Seppänen, R. Food and nutrient intake of premenopausal female vegetarians and omnivores in Finland. Scand. J. Nutr. 1998; 42: 98–103.Google Scholar
30Dwyer, JT. Vegetarian eating patterns: science, values, and food choices – where do we go from here?. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1994; 59(Suppl.), 1255S–62S.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
31Pribs, P, Sabate, J, Fraser, G. Food consumption among vegetarians and nonvegetarian California Seventh-Day Adventists, 1994–1996. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1999; 70, 633S–4S.Google Scholar
32Johnston, P, Haddad, E, Sabate, J. The vegetarian adolescent. Adolesc. Med. 1992; 3: 417–37.Google ScholarPubMed