Food habits and energy and nutrient intake in Swedish adolescents approaching the year 2000

Abstract

In 1993‐94 a nutritional survey of 15‐year‐old adolescents was carried out in Uppsala, a university city in eastern Sweden, and in Trollhättan, an industrial town in the western part of the country. The study was the beginning of a longitudinal nutritional survey of 193 boys and 218 girls randomly selected from the official population register. The dietary methods used were a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and a combined estimated and weighed 7‐day dietary record. According to the FFQ both boys and girls consumed cereals, butter or margarine and something from the group meat/fish/eggs every day. Milk, milk products, sweets and snacks were consumed more than once per day. Vegetables and fruit/ roots were consumed less often. There was relatively good correlation between the FFQ and the 7‐day record results. The mean daily energy intakes of the 15‐year‐old boys and girls were 10.2 and 8.3 M J, respectively, in Uppsala, and 9.8 and 7.4 M J in Trollhättan. The mean daily intakes of sucrose were 74 and 58 g in boys and 64 and 52 g in girls. The average daily dietary fibre intake was 1.8 g/MJ. The daily intake of energy obtained from breakfast was 18% on weekdays and 22% on weekends; 18 and 11% from prepared lunch; 24 and 30% from dinner, 21 and 14% from light meals; and 16 and 28% from snacks, in Uppsala and Trollhättan respectively. The lowest energy intake from a prepared lunch meal was noted during weekends. On both weekdays and weekends, considerable energy was obtained from light meals and snacks. However, nearly 40% of the girls and 28% of the boys had an energy intake from fat of Ylt; 30 energy %. The mean intakes of vitamin D and selenium and, in the case of girls, iron and zinc, were below the official Swedish Nutrition Recommendations. The daily median intake of iron was 18.7 mg in boys and 14.1 mg in girls. The iron intakes varied between 6 and 35 mg per day. Low serum ferritin concentrations, defined as s‐ferritin <12μg/L, were found in 7 boys (3.7%) and in 29 girls (13.9%). Significant negative correlations were found between smoking and frequency of consumption of vegetables, roots, fruits and meat. A negative correlation was also found between smoking and the intake of energy and a number of nutrients. Socioeconomic factors seem to be less important for the food habits of teenagers than for those noted during childhood. Only frequent consumption of vegetables was positively correlated to the mothers’educational level.

Socio-demographic differences in food habits and preferences of school adolescents in Jiangsu Province, China

“…Similar findings have been reported in the neighbouring Zhejiang Province (Hesketh et al, 2002). In Western countries, high education of parents is associated with healthy eating (Crockett & Sims, 1995;Samuelson et al, 1996). In our study, we found the opposite, higher education of father was associated with high intake of full fat milk (milk score) and other high-energy density foods (animal food score).…”

Longitudinal trends in consumption of vegetables and fruit in Finnish children in an atherosclerosis prevention study (STRIP)

“…There is some evidence that the low vegetable and fruit consumption is more common in boys than in girls (Samuelson et al, 1996;Inchley et al, 2001;Haapalahti et al, 2003). In this study, we did not observe a clear difference in the consumption between 1-and 10-year-old boys and girls.…”

“…In many countries campaigns have been organised to encourage children and adolescents to consume fruit and vegetables. Several studies in industrialised countries have reported, however, inadequate consumption of fruit and vegetables among children and adolescents (Krebs-Smith et al, 1996;Neumark-Sztainer et al, 1996;Samuelson et al, 1996;Dixon et al, 1997;Carter and Whiting, 1998;Inchley et al, 2001;Lee et al, 2001;Roos et al, 2001;Haapalahti et al, 2003). In the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study the diet of the same subjects has been followed from childhood into adulthood, for more than 20 years (Mikkilä et al, 2004).…”

Estimated energy intake, macronutrient intake and meal pattern of Flemish adolescents

“…Comparisons in dietary patterns of adolescents with other European countries have to be interpreted with caution Samuelson et al, 1996). Average intakes reported in some other Western European countries are as follows: Belgium 11.1 MJ (this study), France 12.1 MJ (Hercberg et al, 1991), Germany 10.9 MJ (Kersting et al, 1998) and England 11.4 MJ (Crawley, 1993).…”