Dietary habits in adolescence related to sociodemographic factors, physical activity and self-esteem

Unhealthy eating during adolescence has shown to have multiple negative consequences. The aim of this paper is to acquire knowledge of dietary habits in adolescence and consider how this behaviour varies across different groups of adolescents. Correlations between dietary habits, age and gender have several times been found, in terms of girls eating healthier than boys, and the intake of healthy food decreasing with age. Additionally, adolescents of low socioeconomic position are at higher risk for having unhealthy dietary habits, while adolescents who are physically active seem to eat healthier. Further, it has been shown that low self-esteem in adolescence is associated with eating disorders, representing both restrained eating, but also binge eating. The mentioned correlations can be understood and explained using individual psychological models of health behaviour, like the KAP model and social cognitive theory.