Food choice, socio-economic characteristics and health in 4-year olds in a well-educated urban swedish community.

Clin Nutr. 2006 Sep 1; [Epub ahead of print] Related Articles, Links

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Dietary habits founded early in life might influence development of welfare diseases. The aim was to analyse food choice, socio-economic characteristics and health by questionnaires in healthy 4-year olds. METHODS: Two hundred and thirty children were invited and 79% completed all questionnaires. Anthropometry was measured in 131 subjects. RESULTS: The sample was characteristic for Swedish children except that more parents had university education. Most children attended pre-school; 52% >30h/week. Almost all had been breast-fed until a mean age of 5 months. Fifteen per cent were overweight and 2% obese according to the IOTF cut-offs. A, D vitamin supplementation was not given to a third. Full fat dairy products, minced meat and sausages predominated, and only a fourth was served fat fish. Olive or rape seed oil was consumed regularly by 40% and a third consumed « junk food » regularly. Maternal immigrant status influenced the food choice. CONCLUSION: In a Swedish urban community of 4-year olds, 17% were overweight or obese. The intake of vegetables, oils and « junk food » seemed to have increased, while the intake of dairy products, fruit, meat and fish seemed to be similar to earlier studies. Food choice was influenced by maternal origin.