Young adults need to make more time for healthy meals – study

By surveying 1687 young adults between 18 and 25, investigators from the School of Public Health, University of Minnesota assessed both eating behaviors and dietary balance.

As adolescents mature into young adults, increasing time constraints due to school or work can begin to impact eating habits in a negative way. 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.