ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutritional Epidemiology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1610823
Trends in Diet Structural Composition and Quality Among Adults in Beijing, China (2010-2022)
Provisionally accepted- 1West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
- 2Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control (Beijing CDC), Beijing, China
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Background: Unbalanced dietary patterns are a major risk factor for chronic non-communicable diseases. Examining trends in population-level dietary structural composition and quality is essential for identifying key dietary risks, and developing targeted public health policies.This study analyzed dietary trends among Beijing adults using three waves (2010-2022) of data from the China Nutrition and Health Surveillance (CNHS). Dietary intake was assessed through consecutive 3-day 24-hour dietary recalls, supplemented by household weighing of cooking oils and condiments. Dietary structural composition was comprehensively analyzed, including the energy contribution of macronutrients and food sources of energy, protein, and fat intake. Populationlevel dietary quality was evaluated using the Chinese Diet Balance Index (DBI-22). Trend analyses were performed using the Jonckheere-Terpstra test, while group comparisons utilized chi-square and Mantel-Haenszel tests.Results: A total of 4,520 participants were included. Between 2010 and 2022, carbohydrate contribution to energy intake decreased from 56.1% to 46.7%, whereas fat intake increased from 31.6% to 36.9%. A dietary shift from plant-based to animal-sourced foods was observed, with the latter demonstrating annual increases in their proportional contributions to total energy, protein, and fat intake (p for trend < 0.001). DBI-22 assessments revealed persistent imbalances relative to dietary guidelines, with insufficient intake of vegetables, fruits, dairy, aquatic products, and soybeans (median scores: -1.5 to -6) and excessive intake of cereals, meat, eggs, oil, and salt (median scores: 1 to 4.7). Trend analyses indicated a worsening in excessive intake (p < 0.001) alongside a modest improvement in intake deficiency (p = 0.004) over the study period. However, the overall gap between the actual and recommended intake remains unchanged (p = 0.868). Subgroup analyses revealed stable dietary transition trajectories across population strata, with significant interaction effects between area and time observed for both dietary composition and diet quality (p for interaction < 0.05), indicating divergent trends between urban and rural residents over time.Between 2010 and 2022, Beijing adults experienced substantial imbalances in dietary structure, characterized by decreasing energy intake from carbohydrates and increasing intake from fat, both diverging further from recommended levels. Dietary deficiencies and excesses coexist, contributing to suboptimal dietary quality compared with national dietary guidelines.
Keywords: Dietary structure, diet quality, Adult, Trends, dietary composition
Received: 13 Apr 2025; Accepted: 02 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Huang, Zhao, Sha, Zhao, Yao, Qi, Zhang, Yu, He, Yu and Duan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jiali Duan, Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control (Beijing CDC), Beijing, 100009, China
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