Date of Award
Spring 2024
Degree Type
Open Access Dissertation
Degree Name
Health Promotion Sciences, PhD
Program
School of Community and Global Health
Advisor/Supervisor/Committee Chair
Bin Xie
Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member
Alan Stacy
Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member
Kim Reynolds
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2024 Shabana Masood
Subject Categories
Public Health
Abstract
Introduction: Vegetarian diet is one of the most consistent diets which has shown long-term health benefits. According to a nationwide survey of adults 18+, 4% of Americans were vegetarians. The dissertation was divided into 3 separate studies and assessed the effect of vegetarian diet in the association between (Study1) childhood ADHD symptoms and young adult weight status; (Study 2) health behaviors and depression in young adults; (Study 3) comparison of weight perception and weight control strategies among vegetarians and non-vegetarians.
Methods: The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) dataset is a national dataset spanning decades and data collected in 5 phases. All 3 studies used a cross sectional design with phase 3 data. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS, version 28.
Results: In Study 1, adding vegetarian status saw an 18.5% change in beta slope and statistical significance for ADHD symptoms influencing weight gain (10.098 to 11.969; p=0.031), suggesting vegetarian diet as a confounder. In study 2, there was no difference between vegetarians and non-vegetarians in smoking or drinking (OR: .928; CI: .661-1.303; p>.05). Vegetarians were less sedentary and more physically active (p<.001 for both), and depressive symptoms were similar for both groups (1.39 and 1.40; p=.381). In Study 3, there was no difference between weight status with or without covariates (OR: .787;CI: .573-1.080) and (OR.786; CI: .572-1.080). Adjusting for covariates, vegetarians were more likely to be “obese” (OR: 1.202; CI: .828-1.743) and less likely to be “overweight” (OR: .887; CI: .588-1.338), compared to “underweight/normal” weight. Adjusting for physical activity and sedentary status, vegetarians perceived themselves as less “overweight” (OR:.802: CI: .585-1.100) and were more likely to use weight loss strategies (OR 1.414; CI: 1.030-1.928).
Conclusion: The study findings will help better understand the mental, physical, behavioral, and cognitive outcomes associated with vegetarian status. As vegetarianism has shown many long-term health benefits, further research in this area will help expand understanding of this specific dietary pattern.
ISBN
9798346759096
Recommended Citation
Masood, Shabana. (2024). Vegetarian Diet and Health Outcomes. CGU Theses & Dissertations, 883. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/883.
