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Dietary patterns of New Zealand European preschool children

Reremoana Theodore1, John Thompson, Clare Wall

  • 1Department of Paediatrics, University of Auckland, Auckland.

The New Zealand Medical Journal
|June 6, 2006
PubMed

Insights

Many New Zealand preschool children have suboptimal dietary patterns, with low intake of fruits, vegetables, and cereals. These findings highlight a need to improve children's nutrition to meet Ministry of Health (MOH) guidelines.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Nutrition
  • Public Health
  • Dietary Pattern Analysis

Background:

  • Understanding the dietary habits of preschool-aged children is crucial for establishing lifelong healthy eating patterns.
  • The Auckland Birthweight Collaborative (ABC) study provides a unique cohort for examining nutrition in New Zealand children.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To document and characterize the dietary patterns of a large sample of New Zealand European preschool children.
  • To evaluate these dietary patterns against the New Zealand Ministry of Health (MOH) food and nutrition guidelines.

Main Methods:

  • Mothers of 549 New Zealand European children were interviewed at 3.5 years of age.
  • Food frequency questionnaires were administered to assess dietary intake.
  • Weighting methods were employed to account for the disproportionate sampling of children born small for gestational age (SGA).

Main Results:

  • A significant percentage of children did not meet recommended daily servings for fruits (27%) and vegetables (54%).
  • Over 93% of preschool children failed to consume the recommended four or more servings of breads and cereals daily.
  • Dietary patterns observed in preschool children mirrored those reported for school-aged children in national surveys.

Conclusions:

  • A considerable proportion of preschool children exhibit inadequate fruit and vegetable consumption according to MOH recommendations.
  • Preschool children's dietary patterns align with those of older children, suggesting persistent nutritional challenges.
  • These findings underscore the importance of targeted nutrition interventions for young children in New Zealand.
Abstract

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