Assessing junk food consumption among Australian children: trends and associated characteristics from a cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundThe ubiquitous supply of junk foods in our food environment has been partly blamed for the increased rates in overweight and obesity. However, consumption of these foods has generally been examined individually perhaps obscuring the true extent of their combined consumption and impact on health. An overall measure of children’s junk food consumption may prove useful in the development of child obesity prevention strategies. We describe the development of a children’s Junk Food Intake Measure (JFIM) to summarise temporal change in junk food consumption and examine the association between the JFIM and health-related behaviours.MethodsCross-sectional population surveillance survey of Australian children age 5–16 years collected in 2010 and 2015. Data were collected by questionnaire with parent’s proxy reporting for children in years K, 2 and 4 and children in years 6, 8 and 10 by self-report. Information on diet, screen-time and physical activity was collected using validated questionnaires. The JFIM comprised consumption of fried potato products, potato crisps/salty snacks, sweet and savoury biscuits/cakes/doughnuts, confectionary and, ice cream/ice blocks.ResultsA total of 7565 (missing = 493, 6.1%) and 6944 (missing n = 611, 8.1%) children had complete data on consumption of junk foods, in 2010 and 2015, respectively. The 2015 survey data showed that among students from high socio-economic status neighbourhoods, there were fewer high junk food consumers than low junk food consumers. Children from Middle Eastern cultural backgrounds had higher junk food consumption. High junk food consumers were more likely to consume take-away ≥3/week, eat dinner in front of the television, receive sweet rewards, be allowed to consume snacks anytime, have soft drinks available at home and a TV in their bedroom. There was a lower proportion of high junk food consumers in 2015 compared to 2010.ConclusionThis is the first study to provide and examine a summary measure of overall junk food consumption among Australian children. The results indicate that junk food consumption among Australian children is lower in 2015, compared with 2010. Still, the public health workforce must continue their efforts as levels of junk food consumption remain of concern among Australian children.

Frequent lunch purchases from NSW school canteens: a potential marker for children's eating habits?

“…SPANS is a representative cross‐sectional survey of NSW school students and the methodology is described elsewhere 7 . Briefly, parents of children in primary school (children) and secondary school students (adolescents) completed a questionnaire that included the frequency of purchasing lunch from the school canteen; eating takeaway meals/snacks; dietary indicators that were summarised using a junk food index measure (JFIM); 8 and days spent in moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity. Students' height, weight and waist circumference were measured; age‐sex adjusted body mass index (kg/m 2 ) were categorised as healthy weight, overweight or obese; 9 and waist‐to‐height ratio (WtHR [cm/cm]) was categorised by cardiometabolic risk as <0.5 (low) or ≥0.5 (high) 10 …”

Educational Intervention of Intention Change for Consumption of Junk Food among School Adolescents in Birgunj Metropolitan City, Nepal, Based on Theory of Planned Behaviors

“…Junk food is a form of food which generally contains low nutrients but high fat, saturated fat, sodium, and low fiber [1,2]. ese types of foods show negative health effects (obesity, metabolic disorder, and high cholesterol) in children [3][4][5].…”

Healthy Lifestyle Behaviours Are Associated With Children’s Psychological Health: a Cross-Sectional Analysis of Data From the New South Wales Child Population Health Survey 2013-2014

“…Discretionary foods included processed meat, salty snacks, fried potato products, sugary baked goods, fast food, cordial or other sugar-sweetened beverages, and confectionary (26). Appropriate discretionary food consumption was de ned as consuming these foods less than three times per week, following Boylan et al (21). Dietary indicators for fruit and vegetable consumption were based on meeting ageappropriate Australian Dietary Guidelines (Table S1) (27), as survey answers were provided in whole numbers, however, half serves in the recommendations were rounded up to whole serves.…”

“…High levels of discretionary food intake (18,19) and reduced consumption of fresh fruit and leafy green vegetables (20) have both been linked with adverse adolescent mental health outcomes. The high prevalence of some unhealthy lifestyle behaviours including inappropriate screen time, excess discretionary food intake and low vegetable consumption, indicate that many Australian children may be at risk of experiencing sub-optimal mental health (10,21,22). Differences in lifestyle behaviours between children and adolescents supports the need to examine mental health outcomes in these age groups separately (21).…”