Cheryl L. Perry, Ph.D. and colleagues from the Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, studied adolescents (mean age, 14.9 years) from 31 middle and high schools in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota in the 1998 through 1999 school year using questionnaires to identify vegetarians (divided into lacto-ovo vegans [eat eggs and dairy products but no meat at all], vegans [do not meat of any kind, eggs, or dairy products] and semi-vegetarians [eat chicken and fish but no other meat]) along with other overall eating habits.

The Healthy People 2010 was issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and lists several dietary objectives for leading a healthy live style (such as obtaining less than 30 percent of one's daily calories from fat and less than 10 percent from saturated fat, eating more than two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables daily).

The study analysis included data on 4,521 adolescents, including 262 (5.8 percent) who reported being vegetarians. Among the vegetarians, 73.7 percent were female and 47.8 percent were white and 26.8 percent were Asian.

"Overall, adolescent vegetarians were significantly more likely to meet the dietary recommendations of Healthy People 2010," the authors state. "Vegetarian adolescents were more than twice as likely to eat less than 30 percent of their calories from fat and nearly three times more likely to eat less than 10 percent of their calories from saturated fat. They were also 1.4 to 2 times more likely to eat two or more servings of fruit, three or more servings of vegetables ... and five or more servings of fruits and vegetables daily.

The authors found that adolescent vegetarians consumed less vitamin B12, cholesterol, regular soda, fruit drink and fast food. They consumed more iron, vitamin A, folate, caffeine, fiber and diet soda. Both vegetarian and nonvegetarian adolescents in the study groups did not meet the recommended daily intake for calcium, with only 30 percent ingesting the recommended amount. Most reported that their prime incentive for their vegetarian diet was to keep off weight.

"...differences in the major targeted dietary behaviors for cardiovascular disease (fat intake) and cancer (fruit and vegetables) ... suggest that vegetarian adolescents, similar to their adult counterparts, have dietary patterns that, if maintained, could significantly lower their risk of the leading causes of death as adults," the authors state.

" ... it seems that rather than viewing adolescent vegetarianism as a difficult phase or fad, the dietary pattern could be viewed as a healthy alternative to the traditional American meat-based diet. With careful planning, using the vegetarian food guide pyramid as a guide, vegetarian adolescents could learn proper nutritional patterns and practices that could lead to a life-long dietary practice that might be salutary for themselves and their families in the future," the authors conclude.

Editors Note: This study was funded by a grant from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Service Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Editorial: Is Choosing a Vegetarian Diet Based on Weight Concerns a Good Thing?

In an accompanying editorial, Stanley Zlotkin, M.D., Ph.D., F.R.C.P.C. from the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, comments that determining dietary intake by questionnaire has its limitations. "These include the use of self-reporting, the cross-sectional nature of the data collection, the lack of specificity of portion sizes, and the inability to assess nutrient content of nonstandard dishes," Dr. Zlotkin states.

"The authors documented a graded response to meeting the Healthy People 2010 objectives," Dr. Zlotkin notes. "The stricter the vegetarian, the more likely he or she was to meet the objectives."

He adds that fewer than 100 of the subjects who identified themselves as vegetarians ate diets free of meat, poultry and fish. "Thus, the comparisons in this study were between red meat eaters and non-red meat eaters," Dr. Zlotkin states.