Dietary patterns among children and adolescents in Germany consuming vegetarian, vegan or omnivore diets: results of the VeChi Youth Study.

Purpose: To identify dietary patterns of vegetarian, vegan and omnivore children and adolescents in Germany and to examine associations with nutrient intake.

Methods: First, three principal component analyses based on 17-22 food groups were used to identify dietary patterns among vegetarians (n = 145, 3-day weighed dietary records), vegans (n = 110) and omnivores (n = 135) from the cross-sectional Vegetarian and Vegan Children and Youth (VeChi Youth) Study (2017-2019, 6-18 years, 57% girls). Secondly, these patterns were correlated (Spearman correlations) with energy and nutrient intakes.

Results: Among vegetarians, 3 dietary patterns were identified ("Animal foods", "Vegetables and fruits", "Meat alternatives and potatoes") accounting for 32.7% of the variance in food group intake. In the vegan group, 4 patterns were identified ("Vegetables and legumes", "Refined carbohydrates", "Meat alternatives and juices", "Fruits and convenience foods") accounting for 43.2% of the variance. Among omnivores, 5 ("Flexitarian", "Vegetables and fruits", "Dairy Products", "meat and convenience foods", "Refined grains and juices") patterns accounting for 43.0% of the variance could be identified. Regardless of diet group, both more favorable dietary patterns ("Vegetables and fruits", "Meat alternatives and potatoes", "Vegetables and legumes", "Fruits and convenience food", "Flexitarian") correlated with higher micronutrient density and less favorable dietary patterns ("Animal foods", "Refined carbohydrates", "Meat alternatives and juices", "Dairy products", "Meat and convenience food", "Refined grains and juices") with unfavorable nutrient profiles were found.

Conclusion: Various dietary patterns exist within omnivore, vegetarian, and vegan diets of children and adolescents, which differ in their contribution to nutrient intake. It is therefore necessary to distinguish between different dietary patterns, also within the vegetarian and vegan diet.