Activity counts from the CSA activity monitor seems to be a useful measure of the total amount of physical activity in 9-yr-old children. Activity counts contributed significantly to the explained variation in TEE and was the best predictor of AEE.

Background/Aims: An adequate fruit and vegetable intake provides essential nutrients and nutritive compounds and is considered an important part of a healthy lifestyle. No simple instrument has been available for the assessment of fruit and vegetable intake as well as its determinants in school-aged children applicable in different European countries. Within the Pro Children Project, such an instrument has been developed. This paper describes the cross-sectional survey in 11-year-olds in 9 countries. Methods: The cross-sectional survey used nationally, and in 2 countries regionally, representative samples of schools and classes. The questionnaires, including a precoded 24-hour recall component and a food frequency part, were completed in the classroom. Data were treated using common syntax files for portion sizes and for merging of vegetable types into four subgroups. Results: The results show that the fruit and vegetable intake in amounts and choice were highly diverse in the 9 participating countries. Vegetable intake was in general lower than fruit intake, boys consumed less fruit and vegetables than girls did. The highest total intake according to the 24-hour recall was found in Austria and Portugal, the lowest in Spain and Iceland. Conclusion: The fruit and vegetable intake in 11-year-old children was in all countries far from reaching population goals and food-based dietary guidelines on national and international levels.

Objective: To describe the development of a European computerized 24-h dietary recall method for adolescents, and to investigate the feasibility of self-administration (self report) by comparison with administration by a dietician (interview). Methods: Two hundred and thirty-six adolescents (mean age 14.6 years (s.d. ¼ 1.7)) of eight European cities completed the 24-h recall (Young Adolescents Nutrition Assessment on Computer (YANA-C)) twice (once by self-report and once by interview). Results: A small but significant underestimate in energy (61 (s.e. ¼ 31) kcal) and fat (4.2 (s.e. ¼ 1.7) g) intake was found in the self-reports in comparison with the interviews; no significant differences were found for the intake of carbohydrates, proteins, fibre, calcium, iron and ascorbic acid. Spearman's correlations were highly significant for all nutrients and energy ranging between 0.86 and 0.91. Agreement in categorizing the respondents as consumers and non-consumers for the 29 food groups was high (kappa statistics X0.73). Percentage omissions were on average 3.7%; percentage intrusions: 2.0%. Spearman's correlations between both modes were high for all food groups, for the total sample (X0.76) as well as for the consumers only (X0.72). Analysing the consumer only, on an average 54% of the consumed amounts were exactly the same; nevertheless, only for one group 'rice and pasta' a significant difference in consumption was found. Conclusion: Adaptation, translation and standardization of YANA-C make it possible to assess the dietary intake of adolescents in a broad international context. In general, good agreement between the administration modes was found, the latter offering significant potential for large-scale surveys where the amount of resources to gather data is limited.

To present the prevalence and urban-rural differences of overweight and obesity in 7-9-year-old Swedish schoolchildren, we used anthropometric data from a nationally representative survey performed in 2008. Trained staff weighed and measured 4538 children in grades 1 and 2 in 94 primary schools. Weight classification was performed using the IOTF reference and school areas were classified based on level of urbanization and area-level education. Overweight was found in 17% of the children including 3% obese. For overweight, odds-ratios were 1.33 and 1.61 (significant) in semi-urban and rural areas, relative to urban areas. After adjusting for area-level education, differences by degree of urbanisation were greatly attenuated and non-significant. For obesity urban-rural differences were observed in boys only and remained after adjustment for area-level education. For area-level education, risk estimates were significantly elevated and unaffected by urbanization and gender, odds-ratios 1.75 and 2.21 for overweight and 2.62 and 3.69 for obesity, in medium- and low-education areas compared to high-education areas. This supports earlier reports identifying areas with low socioeconomic status as high-risk areas for overweight and obesity. However, this study also suggests that gender should be considered when targeting children in urban as well as rural communities for health promoting interventions.

BACKGROUND: Swedish school children living in rural areas and in areas with low education are at excess risk of becoming overweight. This study examines influences of societal and individual characteristics (children and their parents) on prevalence of overweight and obesity, in a national sample of 7-9-year-old children. METHOD: Anthropometric and lifestyle data were collected in a nationally representative sample of 3636 Swedish children. Overweight and obesity (International Obesity Task Force (IOTF)) data were analyzed in relation to lifestyle factors, parental weight, education and breast-feeding. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight was 15.6% including 2.6% obese. Urbanization level and parental characteristics (weight status and education) were related to risk of overweight. Overall less favorable lifestyle characteristics were observed in rural areas and for children of low/medium educated mothers. Boys had greater risk of obesity in semi-urban and rural areas but this was not true for girls. For children's overweight, the living area effect was attenuated in multivariate analysis, while there was an association with origin of parents, high parental weight and medium maternal education. For obesity, the living area effect remained in boys while having two non-Nordic parents predicted obesity in girls. Parental weight status was associated with obesity in both girls and boys. CONCLUSION: Individual and societal factors influence children's weight status, and parental weight status is a strong determinant. Including overweight and obese parents in future health promoting interventions could be a strategy to prevent children from becoming overweight, but identifying those parents may prove difficult. To ensure reaching children with the greatest needs, targeting high risk areas might be a more effective approach.

Objective: To describe fruit and vegetable intake of 11-year-old children in ten European countries and compare it with current dietary guidelines. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Intake was assessed using a previously validated questionnaire containing a pre-coded 24 h recall and an FFQ which were completed in the classroom. Portion sizes were calculated using a standardized protocol. Setting: Surveys were performed in schools regionally selected in eight countries and nationally representative in two countries. Subjects: A total of 8158 children from 236 schools across Europe participating in the PRO GREENS project. Results: The total mean consumption of fruit and vegetables was between 220 and 345 g/d in the ten participating countries. Mean intakes did not reach the WHO population goal of ≥ 400 g/d in any of the participating countries. Girls had a significantly higher intake of total fruit and vegetables than boys in five of the countries (Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Bulgaria and Slovenia). Mean total fruit intake ranged between 114 and 240 g/d and vegetable intake between 73 and 141 g/d. When using the level ≥ 400 g/d as a cut-off, only 23·5 % (13·8-37·0 %) of the studied children, depending on country and gender, met the WHO recommendation (fruit juice excluded). Conclusions: Fruit and vegetable consumption was below recommended levels among the schoolchildren in all countries and vegetable intake was lower than fruit intake. The survey shows that there is a need for promotional activities to improve fruit and vegetable consumption in this age group. Keywords Fruit and vegetable consumption Children EuropeIt has been recognized for some time that fruit and vegetables (F&V) constitute an essential part of a healthy diet (1)(2)(3) . High consumption of F&V has been associated with a decreased risk of morbidity and mortality from a number of chronic diseases like CHD (4) , stroke (5) , type 2 diabetes (6) and certain cancers (7) . F&V are low in energy

The purpose of this study was to examine the strength of the relationship between different variables of physical activity and aerobic fitness and body fat in adolescent boys and girls. Activity energy expenditure (AEE), time spent in a sedentary state, and time spent engaged in moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA, > or = 50% peak oxygen uptake, VO2peak) were assessed by the minute-by-minute heart rate monitoring method in 82 randomly selected 14- to 15-year olds (42 boys, 40 girls). Body fat was determined by measuring skinfold thicknesses. VO2peak was measured by indirect calorimetry. Somatic maturity level was determined by percentages of adult (i.e. 18 years) height attained at examination. AEE was related to aerobic fitness for both genders (boys, r = 0.30, P = 0.056; girls, r = 0.45, P = 0.003). For boys, there was a significant relationship between maturity level and VO2peak (r = 0.48, P < 0.001). For both genders, body fat was significantly and negatively related to VO2peak (r = -0.48 and r = -0.43, P < 0.01). Body fat and maturity explained 47% of the variation in VO2peak in boys, whereas AEE and body fat explained 22% of the variation in VO2peak in girls. No significant associations between physical activity variables and the data on body fat were observed. The total amount of physical activity (AEE) was related to VO2peak, at least in adolescent girls. Although VO2peak seems to be influenced by the maturity level in adolescent boys, the data support the promotion of a daily active lifestyle among young people.

The highest levels of overweight, obesity and stunting in the pro children material are found in Portugal and Spain.