Healthy eating for young adults.

In a study published in the January 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers observed that while young adults enjoy and value time spent eating with others, 35% of males and 42% of females reported lacking time to sit down and eat a meal. They further noted that “eating on the run” was related to higher consumption of unhealthy items like fast foods and lower consumption of many healthful foods. The results suggest that perceived time constraints may be a common barrier to sitting down for meals. Social eating was associated with greater intake of several healthful foods (e.g., vegetables) and with higher intakes of calcium and fiber among males. In contrast, “eating on the run” was associated with higher intakes of soft drinks, fast food and fat, and with lower intake of several healthful foods among females.
The article is “Making Time for Meals: Meal Structure and Associations with Dietary Intake in Young Adults” by Nicole I. Larson, PhD, MPH, RD, et al. in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Volume 109, Issue 1 (January 2009)