Country-specific dietary patterns and associations with socioeconomic status in European children: the IDEFICS study

• Published in: European journal of clinical nutrition Vol. 68; no. 7; pp. 811 - 821
• Main Authors: Fernández-Alvira, J M, Bammann, K, Pala, V, Krogh, V, Barba, G, Eiben, G, Hebestreit, A, Veidebaum, T, Reisch, L, Tornaritis, M, Kovacs, E, Huybrechts, I, Moreno, L A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.07.2014; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 692/700/2814; 692/700/478/174; Biological and medical sciences; BODY-MASS; CHARACTERISTICS; Child; Child, Preschool; CHILDHOOD; Children; Children & youth; Clinical Nutrition; Cultural factors; Culture; Demographic aspects; Diet; Eating; Eating behavior; Epidemiology; Europe; Fast Foods; Feeding Behavior; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi; FOOD-CONSUMPTION; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; HEALTH; Health aspects; Humans; INEQUALITIES; Internal Medicine; Linear Models; Male; Medical research; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Medicine, Experimental; Metabolic Diseases; MULTIVARIATE-ANALYSIS; Nutrition & Dietetics; NUTRITIONAL EPIDEMIOLOGY; OBESITY; original-article; PARENTAL EDUCATION; Parents; PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY; Principal Component Analysis; Principal components analysis; Public Health; Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology; Regression analysis; Social Class; Social economics; SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC; Socioeconomic factors; Socioeconomic status; Socioeconomics; Sociological research; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Europe; Belgium; Sweden; Human; Association; Socioeconomic status; Diet; Countries; Metabolic diseases; European; Child; Feeding
• ISSN: 0954-3007; 1476-5640; 1476-5640
• DOI: 10.1038/ejcn.2014.78

Background/objectives: Children from lower socioeconomic status (SES) may be at higher risk of unhealthy eating. We described country-specific dietary patterns among children aged 2–9 years from eight European countries participating in the IDEFICS study and assessed the association of dietary patterns with an additive SES indicator. Subjects/Methods: Children aged 2–9 years from eight European countries were recruited in 2007–2008. Principal component analysis was applied to identify dietary country-specific patterns. Linear regression analyses were applied to assess their association with SES. Results: Two to four dietary patterns were identified in the participating regions. The existence of a ‘processed’ pattern was found in the eight regions. Also, a ‘healthy’ pattern was identified in seven of the eight regions. In addition, region-specific patterns were identified, reflecting the existing gastronomic and cultural differences in Europe. The ‘processed’ pattern was significantly inversely associated with the SES additive indicator in all countries except Sweden, whereas the ‘healthy’ pattern was positively associated with SES in the Belgian, Estonian, German and Hungarian regions, but was not significant in the Italian, Spanish and Swedish regions. Conclusions: A ‘processed’ pattern and a ‘healthy‘ pattern were found in most of the participating countries in the IDEFICS study, with comparable food item profiles. The results showed a strong inverse association of SES with the ‘processed’ pattern, suggesting that children of parents with lower SES may be at higher risk of unhealthy eating. Therefore, special focus should be given to parents and their children from lower SES levels when developing healthy eating promotion strategies.