Socioeconomic Disadvantage across the Life Course Is Associated with Diet Quality in Young Adulthood

Socioeconomic position (SEP) is a key determinant of diet quality across the life course. Young adulthood is a unique period of transition where dietary inequities between groups with lower and higher SEP may widen. This study investigated associations between SEP in both childhood and young adulthood and diet quality in young adulthood. Data from 1949 Canadian young adults aged 18–30 who participated in the Canada Food Study were analyzed. Healthy Eating Index–2015 (HEI-2015) scores were calculated based on one 24-hour dietary recall. Childhood and young adult SEP were represented by self-report of participants’ parent(s)’ and their own highest educational level, respectively. Linear regression was used to examine associations between childhood and adult SEP and adult HEI-2015 score. Mediation analyses examined whether adult SEP mediated the relationship between childhood SEP and adult HEI-2015 score. Lower SEPs in childhood and adulthood were each associated with lower HEI-2015 scores in young adulthood. Adult SEP mediated up to 13.0% of the association between childhood SEP and adult HEI-2015 scores. Study findings provide support for key life course hypotheses and suggest latent, pathway, and cumulative effects of SEP across the early life course in shaping the socioeconomic patterning of diet quality in young adulthood.