Association between Socioeconomic Factors, Food Insecurity, and Dietary Patterns of Adolescents: A Latent Class Analysis

Abstract

Socioeconomic factors and food insecurity play a fundamental role in the food choices of adolescents, and in addition to influencing access to food, they also have significant effects on dietary patterns. The objectives of this study were to identify the dietary patterns of adolescents through the application of latent class analysis and to evaluate their association with socioeconomic variables and food insecurity. This cross-sectional study was conducted with adolescents aged between 11 and 17 years from public schools. Latent class analysis was used to identify the dietary patterns. Associations between socioeconomic factors, food insecurity and dietary patterns were assessed using multinomial logistic regression (odds ratio (OR); 95% confidence interval (CI)). Among the 1215 participants in the study, four dietary patterns were identified: “Mixed”, “Low consumption”, “Prudent” and “Diverse”. A “Diverse” dietary pattern was associated with a lower economic stratum (OR:2.02; CI:1.26–3.24). There was no association between food insecurity and identified dietary patterns. These results highlight the importance of promoting healthy eating in this age group at all socioeconomic levels, especially the lowest level.