Consuming Primarily Egg Dishes and Eggs as Ingredients among United States Adolescents Is Associated with Greater Usual Nutrient Intakes Compared with Not Consuming Eggs.

BACKGROUND

Adolescents need nutrient-dense foods for growth, and eggs are a nutritious option to help meet nutrient needs.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to assess the relationship between egg-consumption categories and nutrient intake, nutrient adequacy and nutrient exposure scores among US adolescents.

METHODS

Adolescents in the 2007-2018 NHANES (14-17 y; n = 3691) with at least one 24-h dietary recall and supplement data were included. Egg consumption was categorized as nonegg consumer, consumer of eggs as ingredients, or consumer of a primarily egg dish. Usual nutrient intakes, nutrient adequacy, and nutrient exposure scores for intakes from all sources [i.e., total nutrient index (TNI); scored 0-100; foods + supplements] and foods alone [i.e., Food Nutrient Index (FNI); 0-100] were estimated using the National Cancer Institute method. Pairwise t-tests compared the nutrient markers across the 3 egg-consumption groups.

RESULTS

US adolescents failed to meet various nutrient adequacy markers, highlighting a high risk of inadequacy for calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, and vitamin E, and a low percentage above the adequate intake for choline. Primarily egg dish consumers exhibited higher mean usual intakes for lutein + zeaxanthin, choline, vitamin A, selenium, vitamin D, riboflavin, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and protein than nonegg consumers; and for lutein + zeaxanthin, choline, selenium, and DHA than those consuming eggs as ingredients (P < 0.001). Consuming eggs as ingredients showed higher iron and vitamin E intakes compared with not consuming eggs. Consumers of eggs, either primarily dishes or as ingredients had higher TNI scores (P < 0.001) for total (76 and 71 compared with 65), magnesium (69 and 66 compared with 60) and potassium (83 and 80 compared with 73) and FNI scores for potassium (82 and 80 compared with 73) than nonegg consumers, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

US adolescents consuming eggs, as primarily dishes or ingredients, had better compliance in meeting nutrient markers compared with nonegg consumers, highlighting associations between eggconsumption and nutrient intake.