Dietary patterns in children: results from the Southampton Women's Survey

Abstract

There has been an increase in the number of studies that use dietary patterns analysis to assess diet as a whole, rather than individual foods or nutrients. Identification of dietary patterns in childhood may prove useful in investigating the relationship between early diet and health in later life. The aim of the present study was to describe the dietary patterns of 3-year-old children using principal component analysis (PCA). Data were collected from children in the Southampton Women's Survey (SWS). The SWS is a large prospective study in which a total of 12 583 non-pregnant women aged 20-34 years and resident in the city of Southampton, UK were recruited between 1998 and 2002. Babies born to women in the SWS are followed up at 6 months, 12 months, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 years of age (1) . At age 3 years the children were visited at home where their diet, eating behaviour, physical activity and illnesses were assessed. Diet was assessed using an eighty-item FFQ, administered by trained research nurses, to record the average frequency and quantity of the foods consumed by the child over the preceding 3 months. Between 1998Between and 2003Between , 1981 singleton babies were born to the women in the SWS. Complete dietary data were available for 1640 (83 %) of these children at 3 years of age.PCA identified three distinct dietary components in the 3 year olds that explained 7.5, 4.6 and 3.7% of the total variation in the study sample. The first component was termed a 'prudent' diet pattern and was characterised by a high frequency of consumption of vegetables, fruit and juices, water, wholemeal bread and fish and low consumption of white bread, crisps, chips and processed meat. The second component was termed a 'traditional' pattern and was characterised by a high frequency of consumption of processed and red meat, puddings and green vegetables and low consumption of wholemeal bread, water and fruit juices. The third component was termed a 'convenience vegetarian' pattern and was characterised by a high consumption of vegetable dishes and vegetarian foods, beans and pulses and quiche and pizza and low consumption of meat, boiled potatoes and vegetables.Three clear patterns of foods have been described in the diets of the children in the SWS at 3 years of age. These patterns reflect large differences in dietary choices and food consumption. The 'prudent' dietary pattern that explains the most variation in the study sample is very similar to the 'prudent' pattern that has been described previously for the women in the SWS (2) . Ongoing work is addressing the relationship between the dietary patterns of the mothers in the SWS and their children, and the influence of these patterns on growth and development in early childhood.

Maternal plasma vitamin B12 concentrations during pregnancy and infant cognitive outcomes at 2 years of age

“…The analysis was performed on a subset of infants who have completed BSID-III and may lead to selection bias; comparison of participant characteristics showed that non-participants were similar in profile for a number of key determinants. Vitamin B12 concentrations were not measured in children; hence a better (or poorer) performance in neurocognitive assessments may be a reflection of better (or poorer) nutritional status in children rather than of their mothers; although there is evidence to suggest that dietary patterns of the offspring is very similar to dietary patterns of their mothers (41; 42). A number of important contributors to early cognitive development such as maternal intelligence and home stimulation were not measured in the cohort, but our statistical models adjusted for maternal education which is often used as a proxy.…”

Influences on the quality of young children's diets: the importance of maternal food choices

“…This pattern was termed a ‘prudent’ diet pattern, as it represented a diet consistent with healthy eating recommendations and was similar to the ‘prudent’ pattern that we have previously described in the SWS women ( 9 ) . The second and third components identified from the PCA were more difficult to interpret and explained less of the variance in the fifty-one food groups (4·6 and 3·7 %, respectively) ( 17 ) . The second component was characterised by a high frequency of consumption of foods that resemble a more ‘traditional’ pattern of eating, including red meat, puddings and green vegetables.…”

“…The second component was characterised by a high frequency of consumption of foods that resemble a more ‘traditional’ pattern of eating, including red meat, puddings and green vegetables. The third component was characterised by a high frequency of consumption of vegetable dishes and vegetarian foods, quiche and pizza and beans and pulses ( 17 ) . In the present paper, we considered only the prudent diet pattern, as it was the most meaningful and interpretable pattern of foods, and it provided an index of the quality of the child's diet.…”

“…The third component was characterised by a high frequency of consumption of vegetable dishes and vegetarian foods, quiche and pizza and beans and pulses (17) . In the present paper, we considered only the prudent diet pattern, as it was the most meaningful and interpretable pattern of foods, and it provided an index of the quality of the child's diet.…”

Association between maternal lifestyle and preschool nutrition

“…[48][49][50] The influence of the mother-child relationship on the child's food behavior occurs through interactions with several aspects of daily life, such as lack of time to cook, cultural, social and family interference, and the mother's personal history regarding food habits. Many mothers may adopt criteria unrelated to health when choosing food: price, ease of preparation, taste, appearance, advertising, packaging, the manner how items are placed on the shelves etc.…”