Facial reconstruction

Search LJMU Research Online

Browse Repository | Browse E-Theses

Pattern analysis of vegan eating reveals healthy and unhealthy patterns within the vegan diet

Gallagher, CT, Hanley, P and Lane, KE (2021) Pattern analysis of vegan eating reveals healthy and unhealthy patterns within the vegan diet. Public Health Nutrition. ISSN 1368-9800

[img]
Preview
Text
Pattern analysis of vegan eating reveals healthy and unhealthy patterns within the vegan diet.pdf - Accepted Version

Download (305kB) | Preview

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to identify the types of foods that constitute a vegan diet and establish patterns within the diet. Dietary pattern analysis, a key instrument for exploring the correlation between health and disease was used to identify patterns within the vegan diet.
Design: A modified version of the EPIC-Norfolk food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was created and validated to include vegan foods and launched on social media.
Setting: UK participants, recruited online
Participants: A convenience sample of 129 vegans voluntarily completed the FFQ. Collected data was converted to reflect weekly consumption to enable factor and cluster analyses.
Results: Factor analysis identified four distinct dietary patterns including: 1) convenience, (22%); 2) health conscious, (12%); 3) unhealthy, (9%); and 4) traditional vegan (7%). Whilst two healthy patterns were defined, the convenience pattern was the most identifiable pattern with a prominence of vegan convenience meals and snacks, vegan sweets and desserts, sauces, condiments and fats. Cluster analysis identified three clusters, cluster one ‘convenience’ (26.8%), cluster two, ‘traditional’ (22%) and cluster 3 ‘health conscious’ (51.2%). Clusters one and two consisted of an array of ultra-processed vegan food items. Together, both clusters represent almost half of participants and yielding similar results to the predominant dietary pattern, strengthens the factor analysis.
Conclusions: These novel results highlight a need for further dietary pattern studies with full nutrition and blood metabolite analysis in larger samples of vegans to enhance and ratify these results.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: This article has been published in a revised form in Public Health Nutrition [http://doi.org/10.1017/s136898002100197x. This version is free to view and download for private research and study only. Not for re-distribution or re-use. © copyright holder.
Uncontrolled Keywords: 11 Medical and Health Sciences
Subjects: T Technology > TX Home economics > TX341 Nutrition. Foods and food supply
R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
Divisions: Sport & Exercise Sciences
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date Deposited: 11 May 2021 10:02
Last Modified: 04 Sep 2021 05:29
DOI or ID number: 10.1017/s136898002100197x
URI: https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/14974
View Item View Item