Eating Egg-Rich Diets and Modeling the Addition of One Daily Egg Reduced Risk of Nutrient Inadequacy among United States Adolescents with and without Food Insecurity

Background

Adolescents have the poorest dietary intake throughout their lifespan. Food insecurity worsens these nutritional risks. Eggs are a nutrient-dense strategy to increase nutrient quality.

Objectives

1) compare usual nutrient intakes, Dietary Reference Intake and protein compliance with recommendations and scores of micronutrient quality; and 2) analyze how adding 1 egg affects adolescents’ nutrient profiles, by food security status and egg-rich diets.

Methods

Dietary data of United States adolescents in the 2007–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were analyzed (14–17 y; n = 3633). Egg-rich diet levels were categorized as 1) no eggs, 2) eggs as ingredients in dishes, or 3) primarily egg dishes. Food security status was classified using the United States Household Food Security Survey Module. The National Cancer Institute method was used to estimate usual nutrient intake and nutrient exposure scores [i.e., Food Nutrient Index (FNI) and Total Nutrient Index (TNI)]. Nutrient amounts from 1 medium egg were modeled on existing intakes. Pairwise t-tests determined significant differences.

Results

Over 60% of adolescents risked inadequate intake of calcium, choline, magnesium, vitamin D, and vitamin E regardless of food security status. Food-secure adolescents consuming primarily egg dishes had higher mean usual intakes of lutein + zeaxanthin (1544.1 μg), choline (408.4 mg), vitamin B2 (2.3 mg), selenium (128.6 μg), vitamin D (6 μg), docosahexaenoic acid (70 mg), and protein (89.1 g) than other groups (P < 0.0002). Those who were food secure and consuming eggs as ingredients in dishes demonstrated higher nutrient adequacy for magnesium (scored ∼66 out of 100), potassium (scored 81), and total scores (scored 72 and 69, respectively) for the TNI and FNI; and folate only (scored 92) for the TNI, than those who were food insecure and not consuming eggs (P < 0.0002). Adding 1 egg increased choline and vitamin D usual intakes for some groups and nutrient index scores for all groups (P < 0.0005).

Conclusions

Adolescents are at substantial nutritional risk that was exacerbated by food insecurity and less egg consumption.