Berit Worm Rothausen

Differences in Danish children's diet quality on weekdays v . weekend days

OBJECTIVE To compare differences in childrens diet quality on weekdays (Monday-Thursday), Fridays and weekend days. DESIGN A representative cross-sectional study in which participants completed a 7 d pre-coded food record. Mean intakes of energy, macronutrients and selected food items (g/10 MJ) as well as energy density were compared between weekdays, Fridays and weekend days for each gender in three age groups (4-6, 7-10 and 11-14 years) using Tobit analysis to account for zero intakes. SETTING The Danish National Survey of Dietary Habits and Physical Activity 2003-2008. SUBJECTS Children (n 784; 49·9 % boys) aged 4-14 years. RESULTS For both genders in all age groups (P < 0·05), energy intake was higher during weekends than on weekdays, and intakes of sugar-sweetened beverages and white bread were higher, whereas intake of rye bread was lower. This contributed to a higher percentage of energy from added sugars, a lower fibre content and a higher energy density on weekend days v. weekdays. In children aged 4-6 and 7-10 years, the diet on weekend days was also characterized by higher intakes of sweets and chocolate and lower intakes of fruit and vegetables. Overall, the diet on Fridays appeared as a mix of the diets on weekdays and weekend days. CONCLUSIONS Significant differences and distinct characteristic patterns were found in childrens diet quality during weekdays, Fridays and weekend days. The present study suggests that in prevention of childhood overweight and obesity, more attention should be paid to the higher energy intake, especially from sugar-rich foods and beverages, on Fridays and weekend days.

Comparison of estimated energy intake from 2×24-hour recalls and a seven-day food record with objective measurements of energy expenditure in children

Objective The objective of the present study was to evaluate energy intake (EI) estimated from two non-consecutive 24-hour recalls (24-HDRs) and a pre-coded seven-day food record (7-dFR) against objective measurements of energy expenditure (EE) in children. Design A total of 67 7–8 year-olds and 64 12–13 year-olds completed the 2×24-HDRs, the 7-dFR, and wore ActiReg® (PreMed AS, Oslo, Norway), a combined position and motion recording instrument, during the same seven days as the 7-dFR was filled in. Results In the 7–8 year-olds, EI from the 2×24-HDRs (EI2×24-HDR) was overestimated with 3% compared to EE (not significantly different), while EI from the 7-dFR (EI7-dFR) was underestimated with 7% compared to EE (P=0.001). In the 12–13 year-olds, the corresponding figures was underestimation by 10% with the 2×24-HDRs (P<0.001) and by 20% with the 7-dFR (P<0.001). For both age groups combined, the 95% limits of agreement were −4·38 and 3.52 MJ/d for the 2×24-HDRs, and −5.90 and 2.94 MJ/d for the 7-dFR. Pearson correlation coefficients between EI and EE were 0.51 for EI2×24-HDR and 0.29 for EI7-dFR, respectively. The proportion classified in the same or adjacent quartiles was 76% for EI2×24-HDR and 73% for EI7-dFR in the 7–8 year-olds, and 83% for EI2×24-HDR and 70% for EI7-dFR in the 12–13 year-olds. Conclusion Misreporting of EI seemed modest with both the 2×24-HDRs and the 7-dFR in the 7–8 year-olds when compared to EE measured with ActiReg®. Under-reporting appeared to be more evident in the 12–13 year-olds, especially with the 7-dFR. Compared to measurements of EE, the 2×24-HDRs seemed to perform slightly better than the 7-dFR in terms of ranking of individuals according to EI.

Dietary patterns on weekdays and weekend days in 4-14-year-old Danish children.

Little is known about dietary patterns on weekdays and weekend days in children, and the aim of the present study was to investigate 4–14-year-old childrens dietary patterns specifically on weekdays (Monday–Thursday) and weekend days (Saturday–Sunday). Dietary data were derived from the Danish National Survey of Dietary Habits and Physical Activity 2003–8, where a total of 784 children aged 4–14 years completed a 7 d pre-coded food record. Principal component analysis was used to identify dietary patterns in the age groups 4–6, 7–10 and 11–14 years. Consistently, two dietary patterns, labelled ‘processed’ and ‘health conscious’, emerged on both weekdays and weekend days. Factor scores from corresponding dietary patterns were significantly correlated between weekdays and weekend days with the exception of the ‘health conscious’ pattern in the 7–10-year-olds. Within each age group, children with high agreement for the ‘processed’ pattern had a significantly higher dietary energy density, which was reflected in significantly higher intakes of sugar-sweetened beverages and lower intakes of fruit and vegetables, compared with children with high agreement for the ‘health conscious’ pattern (P< 0·05). Moreover, these variables indicated less healthy dietary intakes on weekend days than on weekdays for both patterns. In conclusion, two distinct dietary patterns, labelled ‘processed’ and ‘health conscious’, were identified on both weekdays and weekend days for each age group. While overall major dietary patterns may somewhat track between weekdays and weekends, the specific foods actually eaten became less healthy during weekends.

Relationship between sleep duration and dietary intake in 4- to 14-year-old Danish children.

A negative association between sleep duration and BMI has been observed in children. However, knowledge about the association between sleep duration and diet is limited. The objective was to examine the association between sleep duration and intake of foods and nutrients in children. In the present cross-sectional study, dietary intake and sleep duration were recorded by the parents for seven consecutive days in a food and sleep record in a representative sample of 802 4- to 14-year-old children. No sex differences were found regarding age and sleep duration. Sleep duration was negatively correlated to age (ρ = –0·68; P < 0·001) and BMI (ρ = –0·41; P < 0·001). In multiple linear regression analyses, sleep duration was not associated with energy intake (b = –0·015; P = 0·20), but there was a trend towards a positive association with intake of dietary fibre (b = 0·006; P = 0·05) and vegetables (b = 0·011; P = 0·05), and a negative association with intake of poultry (b = –0·002; P = 0·02), and a trend towards a negative association with intake of liquid ‘discretionary calories’ (b = –0·01; P = 0·05). Furthermore, in a comparison of dietary intake between age-dependent tertiles of sleep duration, only intake of liquid ‘discretionary calories’ was significantly lower in long sleepers than in short and medium sleepers (P = 0·03). In conclusion, sleep duration was not associated with energy intake and the proposal that children with short sleep duration have less healthy eating habits than children with longer sleep duration was only weakly supported by the present findings.