10 research outputs found
Socioeconomic differences in food habits among 6- to 9-year-old children from 23 countries-WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI 2015/2017)
Background: Socioeconomic differences in children's food habits are a key public health concern. In order to inform policy makers, cross-country surveillance studies of dietary patterns across socioeconomic groups are required. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between socioeconomic status (SES) and children's food habits.
Methods: The study was based on nationally representative data from children aged 6-9 years (n = 129,164) in 23 countries in the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region. Multivariate multilevel analyses were used to explore associations between children's food habits (consumption of fruit, vegetables, and sugar-containing soft drinks) and parental education, perceived family wealth and parental employment status.
Results: Overall, the present study suggests that unhealthy food habits are associated with lower SES, particularly as assessed by parental education and family perceived wealth, but not parental employment status. We found cross-national and regional variation in associations between SES and food habits and differences in the extent to which the respective indicators of SES were related to children's diet.
Conclusion: Socioeconomic differences in children's food habits exist in the majority of European and Asian countries examined in this study. The results are of relevance when addressing strategies, policy actions, and interventions targeting social inequalities in children's diets.The authors gratefully acknowledge support from a grant from the
Russian Government in the context of the WHO European Office for
the Prevention and Control of NCDs.
Data collection in the countries was made possible through
funding from Albania: WHO through the Joint Programme on
Children, Food Security and Nutrition “Reducing Malnutrition in
Children,” funded by the Millennium Development Goals Achievement Fund, and the Institute of Public Health; Bulgaria: Ministry of
Health, National Center of Public Health and Analyses, WHO
Regional Office for Europe; Croatia: Ministry of Health, Croatian
Institute of Public Health and WHO Regional Office for Europe;
Czechia: Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic, grant nr. AZV
MZČR 17-31670 A and MZČ–VO EÚ 00023761; Denmark: Danish
Ministry of Health; Georgia: WHO; Ireland: Health Service Executive; Italy: Ministry of Health and Italian National Institute of Health;
Kazakhstan: Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan and
WHO Country Office; Kyrgyzstan: World Health Organization;
Latvia: Ministry of Health, Centre for Disease Prevention and
Control; Lithuania: Science Foundation of Lithuanian University of
Health Sciences and Lithuanian Science Council and WHO; Malta:
Ministry of Health; Montenegro: WHO and Institute of Public
Health of Montenegro; Norway: Ministry of Health and Norwegian
Institute of Public Health; Poland: National Health Programme, Ministry of Health; Portugal: Ministry of Health Institutions, the
National Institute of Health, Directorate General of Health, Regional
Health Directorates and the kind technical support from the
Center for Studies and Research on Social Dynamics and Health
(CEIDSS); Romania: Ministry of Health; Russian Federation: WHO;
San Marino: Health Ministry, Educational Ministry; Serbia: This
study was supported by the World Health Organization (Ref. File
2015-540940); Spain: Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition
(AESAN); Tajikistan: WHO Country Office in Tajikistan and Ministry of Health and Social Protection; Turkmenistan: WHO Country
Office in Turkmenistan and Ministry of Health; Turkey: Turkish Ministry of Health and World Bank.
The CO-CREATE project has received funding from the European
Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant
agreement No. 774210.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
A Snapshot of European Children’s Eating Habits: Results from the Fourth Round of the WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI)
Consuming a healthy diet in childhood helps to protect against malnutrition and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). This cross-sectional study described the diets of 132,489 children aged six to nine years from 23 countries participating in round four (2015-2017) of the WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI). Children's parents or caregivers were asked to complete a questionnaire that contained indicators of energy-balance-related behaviors (including diet). For each country, we calculated the percentage of children who consumed breakfast, fruit, vegetables, sweet snacks or soft drinks "every day", "most days (four to six days per week)", "some days (one to three days per week)", or "never or less than once a week". We reported these results stratified by country, sex, and region. On a daily basis, most children (78.5%) consumed breakfast, fewer than half (42.5%) consumed fruit, fewer than a quarter (22.6%) consumed fresh vegetables, and around one in ten consumed sweet snacks or soft drinks (10.3% and 9.4%, respectively); however, there were large between-country differences. This paper highlights an urgent need to create healthier food and drink environments, reinforce health systems to promote healthy diets, and continue to support child nutrition and obesity surveillance.These activities were partially funded through a grant from the Russian Government in the context of
the WHO European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases. The authors gratefully
acknowledge support from the Danish Ministry of Health, the Italian Ministry of Health and Italian National
Institute of Health, the National Institute for Health Development in Estonia, the Health Service Executive in
the Republic of Ireland, the Ministry of Health in Bulgaria, the Poland National Health Program (grant no.
6/1/3.1.12/NPZ/2016/106/1401, the Czech Republic (grants AZV MZCR 17-31670 A and MZ ˇ CR—RVO E ˇ Ú 00023761),
and the Ministry of Health in Latvia. The Spanish study was funded by the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and
Nutrition (AESAN). COSI Austria was supported by a grant from the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health,
Care and Consumer Protection, Republic of Austria. COSI Turkey gratefully acknowledges the World Bank for
the survey credit. COSI Lithuania gratefully acknowledges the WHO representative in Lithuania, Ingrida Zurlyte,
for printing the COSI questionnaires. The study in Kazakhstan was funded by the Ministry of Health of the
Republic of Kazakhstan within the scientific and technical program.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio