Social determinants of adolescent eating behaviours: findings from the 2019 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth.

Authors

Gyselle de Geus, Jean-Philippe Chaput, Rita Al Kazzi, Claire N Tugault-Lafleur

Published in

Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice. Volume 46. Issue 9. Pages 299-310.

Abstract

Limited evidence is available on the eating behaviours of Canadian adolescents. We examined how eating behaviours vary by social factors in a large nationwide sample of Canadian adolescents.
This cross-sectional study used data from the 2019 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth (n = 13 605 adolescents aged 12-17 years). Gender-stratified multivariable regression models were used to test for differences in the likelihood of breakfast consumption, evening family meals, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) intake and restrictive eating by gender, age, racial/cultural background, parental education, household income, and food security status.
Compared to boys, girls were more likely to consume breakfast infrequently, have fewer evening family meals, engage in restrictive eating, but were less likely to consume SSB frequently. Adolescents aged 14 to 17 demonstrated a higher likelihood of infrequent breakfast consumption, reduced participation in family meals, engagement in restrictive eating behaviours, and frequent consumption of SSB compared to those aged 12 to 13. Black adolescents were more likely to report infrequent breakfast, lower participation in evening family meals and frequent SSB consumption compared to their White peers. Adolescents whose parents had a high school degree or lower education were more likely to report infrequent breakfast consumption and frequent SSB consumption compared to adolescents whose parents had a college degree or higher. Lower household income and food insecurity were linked to adolescents' frequency of breakfast consumption, evening family meals, and SSB intake, but showed no association with restrictive eating behaviours.
Disparities in eating behaviours exist among Canadian adolescents, underscoring the need for social policies that address structural determinants shaping dietary behaviours in this population.

PMID:
42788892
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 25 Sep 2026.

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