It has been 10 years since the last New Zealand Adult Nutrition Survey was undertaken, and even longer since the New Zealand vegetarian diet has been studied, researchers say.
''Food patterns change and develop over time, and therefore we really don't have a good understanding of what New Zealanders, and particularly New Zealand vegetarians, are eating,'' Dr Meredith Peddie, of the Otago human nutrition department, said yesterday.
The Otago department has stepped in with its Sundial study, which focuses on what 300 adolescent females, aged 15 to 18, are eating.
The national study began in February and had already recruited 250 of the 300 people required, but only 20 of the planned 60 vegetarians, Dr Peddie, a principal investigator, said.
Sundial is an acronym for Survey of Nutrition, Dietary assessment and Lifestyle.
Dr Peddie, who is a National Heart Foundation Research Fellow, said vegetarian and vegan eating patterns were becoming increasingly popular, partly because of the lower risk of diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Ensuring the nutritional adequacy of a vegetarian diet required careful planning, and some vegetarians had been found to have lower intakes of Vitamin B12 and calcium, she said.
Adolescent females were often at risk of poor iron status even when following a non-vegetarian diet.
Growing numbers of adolescent females could be following a vegetarian diet in ways that put them at risk of nutrient deficiencies, she said.
- Anyone interested in taking part in the study can find more information online here.
