Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Methods

An international comparison of dietary patterns in 9–11-year-old children

International Journal of Obesity Supplements volume 5, pages S17–S21 (2015)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:

Dietary pattern is defined as a combination of foods and drinks and the frequency of consumption within a population. Dietary patterns are changing on a global level, which may be linked to an increased incidence of chronic diseases. The aim of this study was to identify and compare the dietary patterns among 9–11-year-old children living in urban regions in different parts of the world.

METHODS:

Participants were 7199 children (54% girls), aged 9–11 years, from 12 countries situated in all major world regions. Food consumption was assessed using a 23-item Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). To identify dietary patterns, principal components analyses (PCA) were carried out using weekly portions as input variables.

RESULTS:

Both site-specific and pooled PCA resulted in two strong components. Component 1 (‘unhealthy diet pattern’) included fast foods, ice cream, fried food, French fries, potato chips, cakes and sugar-sweetened sodas with >0.6 loadings. The loadings for component 2 (‘healthy diet pattern’) were slightly weaker with only dark-green vegetables, orange vegetables, vegetables in general, and fruits and berries reaching a >0.6 loading. The site-specific diet pattern scores had very strong correlations with the pattern scores from the pooled data: r=0.82 and 0.94 for components 1 and 2, respectively.

CONCULSIONS:

The results suggest that the same ‘healthier’ and ‘unhealthier’ foods tend to be consumed in similar combinations among 9–11-year-old children in different countries, despite variation in food culture, geographical location, ethnic background and economic development.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Lim SS, Vos T, Flaxman AD, Danaei G, Shibuya K, Adair-Rohani H et al. A comparative risk assessment of burden of disease and injury attributable to 67 risk factors and risk factor clusters in 21 regions, 1990-2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet 2012; 380: 2224–2260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. International Diabetes Federation IDF Diabetes Atlas, 6th edn. International Diabetes Federation: Brussels, Belgium, 2013.

  3. World Health Organization. Global action plan for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases 2013–2020, 2013. Available at http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/94384/1/9789241506236_eng.pdf?ua=1 (accessed on 30 April 2015).

  4. Lobstein T, Jackson-Leach R, Moodie ML, Hall KD, Gortmaker SL, Swinburn BA et al. Child and adolescent obesity: part of a bigger picture. Lancet 2015; 385: 2510–2520.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Peirson L, Fitzpatrick-Lewis D, Morrison K, Ciliska D, Kenny M, Usman Ali M et al. Prevention of overweight and obesity in children and youth: a systematic review and meta-analysis. CMAJ Open 2015; 3: E23–E33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Dixon B, Peña M-M, Taveras EM . Lifecourse approach to racial/ethnic disparities in childhood obesity. Adv Nutr Bethesda Md 2012; 3: 73–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Kearney J . Food consumption trends and drivers. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2010; 365: 2793–2807.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Roberto CA, Swinburn B, Hawkes C, Huang TT-K, Costa SA, Ashe M et al. Patchy progress on obesity prevention: emerging examples, entrenched barriers, and new thinking. Lancet 2015; 385: 2400–2409.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Guenther PM, Kirkpatrick SI, Reedy J, Krebs-Smith SM, Buckman DW, Dodd KW et al. The Healthy Eating Index-2010 is a valid and reliable measure of diet quality according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. J Nutr 2014; 144: 399–407.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Kanerva N, Kaartinen NE, Schwab U, Lahti-Koski M, Männistö S . Adherence to the Baltic Sea diet consumed in the Nordic countries is associated with lower abdominal obesity. Br J Nutr 2013; 109: 520–528.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Rauber F, da Costa Louzada ML, Vitolo MR . Healthy eating index measures diet quality of Brazilian children of low socioeconomic status. J Am Coll Nutr 2014; 33: 26–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Mikkilä V, Räsänen L, Raitakari OT, Pietinen P, Viikari J . Consistent dietary patterns identified from childhood to adulthood: the cardiovascular risk in Young Finns Study. Br J Nutr 2005; 93: 923–931.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Katzmarzyk PT, Barreira TV, Broyles ST, Champagne CM, Chaput J-P, Fogelholm M et al. The International Study of Childhood Obesity Lifestyle and the Environment (ISCOLE): design and methods. BMC Public Health 2013; 13: 900.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Katzmarzyk PT, Barreira TV, Broyles ST, Champagne CM, Chaput JP, Fogelholm M et al. Relationship between lifestyle behaviors and obesity in 9-11 year old children: results from a 12-country study. Obesity 2015; 23: 1696–1702.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. De Onis M, Onyango AW, Borghi E, Siyam A, Nishida C, Siekmann J . Development of a WHO growth reference for school-aged children and adolescents. Bull World Health Organ 2007; 85: 660–667.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Saloheimo T, González S, Erkkola M, Milauskas DM, Meisel JD, Champagne CM et al. The reliability and validity of a short food frequency questionnaire among 9-11 year olds: a multinational study on 3 middle income and high income countries. Int J Obes Suppl 2015 (this issue).

  17. Currie C, Gabhainn SN, Godeau E, Roberts C, Smith R, Currie D et al. Inequalities in Children’s Health: HBSC International Report from the 2005/2006 Survey. Report No.: 5. WHO Regional Office for Europe: Copenhagen, Denmark, 2008.

  18. Fardet A, Boirie Y . Associations between food and beverage groups and major diet-related chronic diseases: an exhaustive review of pooled/meta-analyses and systematic reviews. Nutr Rev 2014; 72: 741–762.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Fogelholm M, Anderssen S, Gunnarsdottir I, Lahti-Koski M . Dietary macronutrients and food consumption as determinants of long-term weight change in adult populations: a systematic literature review. Food Nutr Res 2012; 56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Program. Scientific Report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. Available at http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015-scientific-report/ (accessed on 30 April 2015).

  21. Nordic Nutrition Recommendations Project Group. Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2012. Integrating Nutrition and Physical Activity, 5th edn. Nordic Council of Ministers: Copenhagen, Denmark, 2014.

  22. Jacobs DR, Steffen LM . Nutrients, foods, and dietary patterns as exposures in research: a framework for food synergy. Am J Clin Nutr 2003; 78: 508S–513S.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Hiza HAB, Casavale KO, Guenther PM, Davis CA . Diet quality of Americans differs by age, sex, race/ethnicity, income, and education level. J Acad Nutr Diet 2013; 113: 297–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Torres R, Santos E, Orraca L, Elias A, Palacios C . Diet quality, social determinants, and weight status in Puerto Rican children aged 12 years. J Acad Nutr Diet 2014; 114: 1230–1235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the ISCOLE External Advisory Board and the ISCOLE participants and their families who made this study possible. A membership list of the ISCOLE Research Group and External Advisory Board is included in Katzmarzyk et al. (this issue). ISCOLE was funded by The Coca-Cola Company.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    V Mikkilä, H Vepsäläinen, T Saloheimo & M Fogelholm

  2. Department of Public Health, Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia

    S A Gonzalez & O L Sarmiento

  3. Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, CeiBA Complex Systems Research Center, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia

    J D Meisel

  4. Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA, USA

    G Hu, C M Champagne, T S Church, P T Katzmarzyk & C Tudor-Locke

  5. Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    J-P Chaput & M S Tremblay

  6. St Johns Research Institute, Bangalore, India

    R Kuriyan & A Kurpad

  7. Department of Human Biology, Division of Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    E V Lambert

  8. Alliance for Research in Exercise Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    C Maher & T Olds

  9. CIFI2D, Faculdade de Desporto, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    J Maia

  10. Centro de Estudos do Laboratório de Aptidão Física de São Caetano do Sul, Sao Paulo, Brazil

    V Matsudo

  11. Department of Recreation Management and Exercise Science, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya

    V Onywera

  12. Department of Health, University of Bath, Bath, UK

    M Standage

  13. Department of Kinesiology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amerherst, MA, USA

    C Tudor-Locke

  14. Tianjin Women’s and Children’s Health Center, Tianjin, China

    P Zhao

Authors
  1. V Mikkilä
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. H Vepsäläinen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. T Saloheimo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. S A Gonzalez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. J D Meisel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. G Hu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. C M Champagne
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. J-P Chaput
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. T S Church
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. P T Katzmarzyk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. R Kuriyan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. A Kurpad
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. E V Lambert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. C Maher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. J Maia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  16. V Matsudo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  17. T Olds
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  18. V Onywera
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  19. O L Sarmiento
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  20. M Standage
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  21. M S Tremblay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  22. C Tudor-Locke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  23. P Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  24. M Fogelholm
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Consortia

for the ISCOLE Research Group

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M Fogelholm.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

MF has received a research grant from Fazer Finland and has received an honorarium for speaking for Merck. AK has been a member of the Advisory Boards of Dupont and McCain Foods. RK has received a research grant from Abbott Nutrition Research and Development. VMa is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Actigraph and has received an honorarium for speaking for The Coca-Cola Company. TO has received an honorarium for speaking for The Coca-Cola Company. The remaining authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Supplementary Information accompanies this paper on International Journal of Obesity Supplements website

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mikkilä, V., Vepsäläinen, H., Saloheimo, T. et al. An international comparison of dietary patterns in 9–11-year-old children. Int J Obes Supp 5 (Suppl 2), S17–S21 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijosup.2015.14

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ijosup.2015.14

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links