To evaluate snacking and diet quality among US adolescents.

Cross-sectional analysis examined snack frequency (snacks/day), size (kcal/snack) and energy density (kcal/g/snack) as predictors of diet quality using the mean of two 24-h dietary recalls. Diet quality was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2015, 0–100), a mean adequacy ratio (MAR, 0–100) for under-consumed nutrients (potassium, fibre, Ca, vitamin D) and mean percentage of recommended limits for over-consumed nutrients (added sugar, saturated fat, Na). Linear regression models examined total snacks, food only snacks and beverage only snacks, as predictors of diet quality adjusting for demographic characteristics and estimated energy reporting accuracy.

2007–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Adolescents 12–19 years (n 4985).

Snack frequency was associated with higher HEI-2015 (β = 0·7 (0·3), P < 0·05) but also with higher intake of over-consumed nutrients (β = 3·0 (0·8), P ≤ 0·001). Snack size was associated with lower HEI (β = –0·005 (0·001), P ≤ 0·001) and MAR (β = –0·005 (0·002), P < 0·05) and higher intake of over-consumed nutrients (β = 0·03 (0·005), P ≤ 0·001). Associations differed for food only and beverage only snacks. Food only snack frequency was associated with higher HEI-2015 (β = 1·7 (0·03), P ≤ 0·001), while food only snack size (β = –0·006 (0·0009), P ≤ 0·001) and food only snack energy density (β = –1·1 (0·2), P ≤ 0·001) were associated with lower HEI-2015. Conversely, beverage only snack frequency (β = 4·4 (2·1) P < 0·05) and beverage only snack size (β = 0·03 (0·01), P ≤ 0·001) were associated with higher intake of over-consumed nutrients.

Smaller, frequent, less energy-dense food only snacks are associated with higher diet quality in adolescents; beverages consumed as snacks are associated with greater intake of over-consumed nutrients.

The relationship between nutrition and behavioural health (BH) outcomes has been established in the literature. However, the relationship between nutrition and anxiety is unclear. Furthermore, the relationship between nutrition and BH outcomes has not been examined in a US Army Soldier population. This study sought to understand the relationship between Soldiers’ nutritional intake and anxiety as well as depression.

This cross-sectional study utilised multivariable logistic regression analyses to examine the relationship between nutritional intake and BH outcomes.

The study utilised data collected in 2018 during a BH epidemiological consultation conducted at one Army installation.

Participants were 7043 US Army Soldiers at one Army installation.

Of the Soldiers completing the survey, 12 % (n 812) screened positive for anxiety and 11 % (n 774) for depression. The adjusted odds of anxiety were significantly higher among Soldiers who reported low fruit intake compared with Soldiers who reported high fruit intake (adjusted OR (AOR) 1·36; 95 % CI 1·04, 1·79). The adjusted odds of depression were higher for Soldiers who reported low fruit intake (AOR 1·35; 95 % CI 1·01, 1·79) and/or low green vegetable intake (AOR 1·37; 95 % CI 1·02, 1·83). Lastly, the adjusted odds of depression were lower for Soldiers who reported low sugary drink intake (AOR 0·62; 95 % CI 0·48, 0·81).

This study is the first to examine the important connection between nutritional intake and anxiety and depression at a US military installation. The information learned from this study has implications for enhancing Soldiers’ nutritional knowledge and BH, ultimately improving Soldiers’ health and medical readiness.

Food insecurity, or lack of access to sufficient food for a healthful lifestyle, has been associated with many aspects of poor health. While the economic struggles among veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been documented, it is unknown how commonly this population struggles to afford food. Our purpose was to document the prevalence and correlates of food insecurity among US veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A cross-sectional survey.

US military veterans who had served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since October 2001.

Subjects responded to a survey mailed to them in summer 2012. Food security was measured by the US Household Food Security Module: Six Item Short Form. Demographic and behavioural health items were also included. Survey data were matched to medical record data from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Over one in four veterans reported past-year food insecurity with 12 % reporting very low food security. Food-insecure veterans tended to be younger, not married/partnered, living in households with more children, earning lower incomes, had a lower final military pay grade, were more likely to use tobacco, reported more frequent binge drinking and slept less, compared with those who were food secure (P<0·05 for all associations listed).

Previously undocumented, the problem of hunger among our newest veterans deserves attention.