Identification of a dietary pattern prospectively associated with increased adiposity during childhood and adolescence

• Published in: International Journal of Obesity Vol. 36; no. 10; pp. 1299 - 1305
• Main Authors: Ambrosini, G L, Emmett, P M, Northstone, K, Howe, L D, Tilling, K, Jebb, S A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.10.2012; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 692/499; 692/699/1702/393; 692/700/478; Adiposity; Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior; Adolescents; Age; Appetite; Biological and medical sciences; Body Composition; Body Mass Index; Child; Child Behavior; Child development; Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Children; Cohort Studies; Demographic aspects; Diaries; Diet; Diet Records; Dietary Fats - metabolism; Dietary Fiber - metabolism; Diets; Energy consumption; Energy Intake; Epidemiology; Feeding Behavior; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Food; General aspects; Health aspects; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; Humans; Internal Medicine; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolic Diseases; Nutrients; Nutrition research; Obesity; Obesity - epidemiology; Obesity - etiology; Obesity - prevention & control; Obesity in adolescence; Obesity in children; Oils & fats; Original; original-article; Physical activity; Policy Making; Public Health; Risk Factors; Risk reduction; Standard scores; Statistical analysis; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teenagers; United Kingdom - epidemiology; Weight control; United Kingdom; United Kingdom > UK; British Isles, England, Avon; British Isles; ALSPAC; diet; adolescents; children; dietary patterns; fat mass; Human; Obesity; Adipose tissue; Nutrition; Nutrition disorder; Metabolic diseases; Identification; Fat mass; Feeding; Association; Adiposity; Diet; Adolescent; Child; Nutritional status
• ISSN: 0307-0565; 1476-5497; 1476-5497
• DOI: 10.1038/ijo.2012.127

Background: Specific dietary risk factors for excess adiposity in young people are poorly understood. However, studies in adults suggest dietary energy density, fat and fibre are critical dietary factors. Objective: To examine longitudinal relationships between a dietary pattern (DP) characterised by dietary energy density, % total energy from fat and fibre density and fat mass (FM) in children from 7 to 15 years of age. Design: Subjects were 6772 children from the UK Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Dietary intake was assessed using a 3-day food diary at 7, 10 and 13 years of age. An energy-dense, high-fat, low-fibre DP was identified using reduced rank regression and subjects scored for the DP at each age. FM was measured at 11, 13 and 15 years and FM index (FMI) calculated as FM/height ( x ) . Longitudinal models were adjusted for dietary misreporting, physical activity and maternal factors. Results: DP z -scores at all ages were positively associated with later FMI. A 1 s.d. unit increase in DP z -score was longitudinally associated with an average increase in FMI z -score of 0.04 s.d. units (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.01–0.07). For each 1 s.d. unit increase in DP z -score, the odds of being in the highest quintile for FMI (as a marker of excess adiposity) increased by 13% (95% CI, 1–27%). Conclusions: Dietary habits during childhood are associated with increased adiposity in adolescence, with specific implications for dietary energy density, fat and fibre intake. Improving diet quality may reduce the risk of obesity in young people.