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Contribution of ‘noncore’ foods and beverages to the energy intake and weight status of Australian children

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 59, pages 639–645 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

Objectives:

The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating is based on five core food groups and water. Foods or beverages that do not fit into these groups are considered extra or ‘noncore’. We tested the hypotheses that noncore foods and beverages make a greater proportional contribution to mean daily energy intakes of: (1) children, compared with other age groups; and (2) overweight and obese children, compared with healthy weight children.

Design, setting and subjects:

We used data from 13 858 participants aged 2 to 80+ y who had 24-h dietary recall data collected in the 1995 cross-sectional Australian National Nutrition Survey. ANOVA was used to compare the percentage of energy provided by noncore foods and beverages by age and weight status.

Results:

Children (5 to 12 y) and adolescents (13 to 18 y) obtained significantly more (P<0.001) of their daily food energy from noncore foods (41.5 and 43.4%, respectively) than all other age groups. These age groups also obtained significantly more (P<0.001) of their daily beverage energy from noncore beverages (30.7 and 36.9%, respectively). Results were not consistent with weight status, although very young (2–4 y) obese children obtained significantly more energy (P<0.05) from noncore beverages than children in a healthy weight range. Younger children may also have consumed a greater quantity of foods and beverages. Under-reporting may have obscured similar results for older children.

Conclusions:

By definition, noncore foods and beverages are surplus to the requirements of a healthy diet. We found that Australian children consume these foods and beverages in excess.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Carl Gibbons for his assistance with the NNS95 database. Colin Bell was supported by a VicHealth Public Health Research Fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research, School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia

    A C Bell, P J Kremer & B A Swinburn

  2. Department of Nutrition & Dietetics, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    A M Magarey

Authors
  1. A C Bell
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  2. P J Kremer
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  3. A M Magarey
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  4. B A Swinburn
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Correspondence to A C Bell.

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Guarantor: AC Bell.

Contributors: CB wrote the initial draft of the paper, and analysed and interpreted the data. PK contributed to the data analysis and assisted in preparation of the paper. AM contributed to the original concept of analysing core vs noncore foods and both she and BS provided assistance in interpreting the data in preparation of the paper.

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Bell, A., Kremer, P., Magarey, A. et al. Contribution of ‘noncore’ foods and beverages to the energy intake and weight status of Australian children. Eur J Clin Nutr 59, 639–645 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602091

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