Who eats healthily? A population-based study among young Swiss residents

Abstract

Objective: To assess whether Swiss residents aged 15-24 years follow current nutritional guidelines and whether differences exist according to gender and weight status. Design: Cross-sectional national survey. Setting: Switzerland. Subjects: The 1786 participants (48?4 % women) were divided into overweight, normal weight and underweight. We used traditional BMI cut-offs for people $18 years of age (underweight 5 BMI , 18?5 kg/m 2 , normal weight 5 BMI $ 18?5 kg/m 2 and ,25 kg/m 2 , overweight 5 BMI $ 25 kg/m 2 ) and age-and gender-appropriate tables for people aged ,18 years, with BMI calculated from self-reported weight and height. We performed bivariate analyses by gender, and then bivariate and multivariate analyses comparing overweight to normal weight people (excluding underweight, n 129, 71?6 % women) regarding adherence to recommendations for fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and dairy products; physical activity; attitude towards body weight; depression, smoking and alcohol consumption. Results: Overall, adherence to nutritional guidelines was low, particularly for vegetables and dairy products. Women had a higher adherence than men except for fish and dairy products. In the multivariate analyses, overweight women had a lower vegetable intake, were less satisfied with body weight and had more often been on a diet, whereas overweight men were less satisfied with body weight and wanted to lose weight more often than their normal weight peers. There were no significant differences for physical activity. Conclusions: Overweight prevention programmes should target youth specifically by gender and promote an appropriate self-perception. Overweight women should be encouraged to eat more vegetables and men to be more sensitised on healthy food. Further research is needed to assess how to make nutritional guidelines more adaptable to young people's daily life.

Trends and determinants of change in compliance to dietary guidelines in a Swiss community-dwelling sample

“…In our study women were more likely to be "new", "former" and "full" compliers to at least three guidelines recommendations than men. A higher likelihood of being "new" or "full" complier is in agreement with several population studies, which reported that women from different age groups have a higher compliance with food and nutrients recommendations 6,[25][26][27] . Conversely, the higher likelihood of being "former" compliers was not expected, and the reasons for such an association should be further explored.…”

Low adherence of Swiss children to national dietary guidelines

“…They did not consume enough dairy and ate too much meat. All in all, they mirror the low adherence to guidelines observed among Swiss adults ( de Abreu et al, 2013 , Meier et al, 2010 ).…”

“…In Switzerland, the Swiss Society for Nutrition (SSN) has issued food based guidelines for adults and children ( Walter et al, 2007 ). Several studies have shown that adherence with the guidelines is low among Swiss adults ( de Abreu et al, 2013 , de Abreu et al, 2014 , Meier et al, 2010 ). However, to date, no study has assessed dietary guideline adherence in children.…”

Frequency and effects of meeting health behaviour guidelines among adolescents

“…Since the FFQ only assesses intake frequency, adherence was solely based on this criterion. As observance of nutritional guidelines has previously been reported as low in Switzerland, 13 the achievement of recommendations was interpreted in a relatively loose manner to maximize the chances of adherence.…”

“…However, recent evidence suggests that these recommendations are largely unmet. [13][14][15] The combined effect of meeting more than one guideline and its relation to overweight has been, to our knowledge, investigated only once. 16 Sanchez et al 16 found that a low observance of guidelines is associated with a higher likelihood of being overweight.…”