Eating behaviours and cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk in young Australian adults

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes are major contributors to the burden of disease in Australia and their prevalence is expected to increase with the ageing of the population and the increasing prevalence of obesity. Dietary intake is known to affect cardio-metabolic disease risk but little is known about the eating behaviours of young adults and whether they are associated with diet quality and risk factors for CVD and diabetes. Aims: To investigate whether eating behaviours (involvement in meal preparation; takeaway food consumption; number of daily eating occasions and breakfast skipping) were associated with socio-economic status, lifestyle factors, diet quality and cardio-metabolic risk factors. Methods: Participants were 2,868 Australian adults aged 26-36 years enrolled in the Childhood Determinants of Adult Health study, a follow-up to the 1985 Australian Schools Health and Fitness Survey. Participants completed a food frequency questionnaire, a food habits questionnaire and a meal patterns chart. In childhood, participants were asked if they usually ate before school. Cardio-metabolic risk factors assessed in adulthood included waist circumference, fasting glucose, fasting insulin and lipids. Results: Participants who were single, less educated, current smokers and less physically active tended to be higher consumers of takeaway food, eat fewer times per day and skip breakfast. Frequent takeaway food consumption, having a low number of daily eating occasions and skipping breakfast as an adult were behaviours associated with poorer diet quality. In addition, those who ate takeaway at least twice per week, had low number of daily eating occasions (men only), and skipped breakfast both as a child and an adult had a larger waist circumference compared to those who did not have these eating behaviours. Involvement in meal preparation was not strongly associated with diet quality or weight status. Cardio-metabolic risk factors were associated with eating behaviours: fasting glucose, insulin and HOMA with frequent takeaway food consumption for women; fasting glucose, insulin and lipids with low number of eating occasions for men; and fasting insulin, total and LDL cholesterol with skipping breakfast in both childhood and adulthood. Conclusions: Eating behaviours were associated with diet quality and cardio-metabolic risk factors in young Australian adults. Simple public health messages that promote limiting takeaway food consumption to once per week and the importance of not skipping breakfast may help reduce the risk of CVD and type 2 diabetes.