Nutrients
Empirically Derived Whole-Diet Patterns and Multidimensional Adiposity in Emerging Adulthood: A Cross-Sectional Study of Geographically Diverse Students at a UK University
By Antonio Peña‐Fernández, Tomás Cámara Pastor and María de los Ángeles Peña.
Abstract
Background
Emerging adulthood is a period in which dietary behaviours may become established before their longer-term effects on adiposity are fully expressed. Evidence linking empirically derived whole-diet patterns with multiple adiposity phenotypes remains limited in narrow-age university populations. This study examined associations between three previously derived dietary pattern scores and adiposity/body composition in geographically diverse young adults attending an English university.
Methods
This historical cross-sectional analysis included 111 students aged 18–22 years assessed during 2016, within the 2015/2016 academic year, at De Montfort University, Leicester. Habitual diet was assessed using an adapted EPIC-Norfolk food frequency questionnaire. Three standardised dietary pattern scores—Plant-Rich, Animal-Source Foods and Energy-Dense/Discretionary—were evaluated in relation to BMI, body fat percentage and a bioelectrical impedance-derived visceral fat index. The prespecified primary multivariable models evaluated dietary pattern–adiposity associations conditional on age, sex, geographical background and log-transformed total energy intake. HC3 robust standard errors were used, with Benjamini–Hochberg false discovery rate correction across the nine prespecified primary associations.