Abstract
Objective: Diet quality indices reflect overall dietary patterns better than single nutrients or food groups. Focusing on the needs of children, this study developed a measure of adherence to the Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top (JFGST), which was developed by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan, and determined the correlation between index scores and nutrient intake.Research Methods and Procedures: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 48 children between six and nine years of age from a coastal town in the Kinki region of Japan. Data were collected between August 2012 and March 2013, including the 12-day diet records (three days over four seasons) of each participant. For children, adherence to the JFGST entails the consumption of five core food groups, including grain, fish and meat, vegetables, milk, and fruits (total possible score of 50). Spearman’s correlation coefficients were calculated to identify any correlations between JFGST scores and nutrient intake.Results: The mean participant JFGST score was 25 ± 10. Higher JFGST scores were correlated with higher intake of monounsaturated fatty acids, n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, dietary fiber, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, vitamin A, vitamin D, riboflavin, pantothenate, and vitamin C. JFGST scores were also positively correlated with nutrient adequacy for calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper, vitamin A, thiamine, riboflavin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, folate, and vitamin C.Conclusion: The index employed in this study may adequately express diet quality among Japanese children.
Highlights
Dietary guidelines are created by translating nutrition science into public health advice
Higher Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top (JFGST) scores were correlated with higher intake of monounsaturated fatty acids, n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, dietary fiber, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, vitamin A, vitamin D, riboflavin, pantothenate, and vitamin C
The total JFGST score was positively correlated with the intake of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), dietary fiber, potassium (K), Ca, Mg, phosphorus (P), Zn, Cu, vitamin A, vitamin D, riboflavin, pantothenate, and vitamin C (Table 1)
Summary
Dietary guidelines are created by translating nutrition science into public health advice. They are designed to promote the populational adoption of dietary patterns that are known to minimize the risks of nutritional deficiency and chronic disease [1]. Public health professionals require tools to help them create dietary guidelines in the form of a recommendations package [2]. A small number of Japanese researchers have developed indices aimed at diet quality in adult populations This includes an adherence score for Japanese dietary guidelines, which was validated against both nutrient intake and the risk of premature mortality [5,6]. There is currently a lack of diet indices that can accurately assess adherence to dietary guidelines in pediatric populations, with even fewer built for use in the Japanese context [7]
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