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An international comparison of dietary patterns in 9-11-year-old children
V Mikkilä1, H Vepsäläinen1, T Saloheimo1
1Department of Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki , Helsinki, Finland.
Insights
Global dietary patterns among children aged 9-11 show consistent unhealthy and healthy food combinations. This study identified similar trends in fast food and fruit consumption across diverse countries, highlighting universal influences on child nutrition.
Area of Science:
- Global child nutrition
- Dietary pattern analysis
- Cross-cultural food consumption
Background:
- Global dietary patterns are shifting, potentially increasing chronic disease risk.
- Understanding children's dietary habits is crucial for public health.
- This study focuses on urban children aged 9-11 worldwide.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and compare dietary patterns in 9-11-year-old children globally.
- To investigate the universality of dietary patterns across different countries.
- To inform public health strategies for improving child nutrition.
Main Methods:
- Principal components analysis (PCA) applied to food consumption data.
- Utilized a 23-item Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) from 7199 children across 12 countries.
- Analyzed weekly food portions to define dietary patterns.
Main Results:
- Two primary dietary patterns emerged: an 'unhealthy diet' (fast foods, sweets, fried items) and a 'healthy diet' (vegetables, fruits).
- High loadings (>0.6) confirmed the strength of these identified patterns.
- Site-specific and pooled PCA results showed strong correlations (r=0.82-0.94), indicating consistency.
Conclusions:
- Despite cultural and geographical differences, 9-11-year-old children globally consume similar combinations of 'healthy' and 'unhealthy' foods.
- These findings suggest universal drivers influencing children's dietary choices.
- The identified patterns provide a basis for targeted global nutrition interventions.
Objectives:
Dietary pattern is defined as a combination of foods and drinks and the frequency of consumption within a population. Dietary patterns are changing on a global level, which may be linked to an increased incidence of chronic diseases. The aim of this study was to identify and compare the dietary patterns among 9-11-year-old children living in urban regions in different parts of the world.
Methods:
Participants were 7199 children (54% girls), aged 9-11 years, from 12 countries situated in all major world regions. Food consumption was assessed using a 23-item Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). To identify dietary patterns, principal components analyses (PCA) were carried out using weekly portions as input variables.
Results:
Both site-specific and pooled PCA resulted in two strong components. Component 1 ('unhealthy diet pattern') included fast foods, ice cream, fried food, French fries, potato chips, cakes and sugar-sweetened sodas with >0.6 loadings. The loadings for component 2 ('healthy diet pattern') were slightly weaker with only dark-green vegetables, orange vegetables, vegetables in general, and fruits and berries reaching a >0.6 loading. The site-specific diet pattern scores had very strong correlations with the pattern scores from the pooled data: r=0.82 and 0.94 for components 1 and 2, respectively.
Conculsions:
The results suggest that the same 'healthier' and 'unhealthier' foods tend to be consumed in similar combinations among 9-11-year-old children in different countries, despite variation in food culture, geographical location, ethnic background and economic development.
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