Abstract
Based on data from the 2010–2011 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, we investigated correlations between micronutrients in the diet of family members and the possible risk factors for children and adolescents consuming an inadequate diet. We examined two-generation households with children aged 2–18 years. The quality of the family diet with regard to the following nine nutrients (protein, calcium, phosphorous, iron, vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, niacin, and vitamin C) was assessed based on the Index of Nutritional Quality. Correlations between quality of diet and selected variables were analyzed using the Statistical Analysis for Genetic Epidemiology software, and those between diet quality and potential risk factors for poor diet in offspring were analyzed using multinomial logistic regression. Overall, calcium was the most commonly under-consumed micronutrient. More than half of sons and daughters showed insufficient vitamin A, vitamin C, and iron intake, and both mothers and fathers showed insufficiency with respect to vitamin A, vitamin B2, and vitamin C. The correlation between a poor diet in parents and that in offspring was 0.17 (p < 0.0001), and this correlation coefficient was higher between mothers and offspring than between fathers and offspring. Additionally, eating breakfast provided a significant protective effect against the risk of poor nutrition in offspring, even after adjusting for covariates. Our results add to evidence indicating that children should be encouraged to eat breakfast to improve the quality of their diet.
Highlights
Both the quality and quantity of nutritional intake play important roles in health, especially among children and adolescents, who are experiencing a period of growth that has important implications for their ability to achieve their full potential
Several recent epidemiological studies showed that insufficient micronutrient intake may be associated with various chronic diseases [2,3] and that dietary fat intake is associated with coronary heart disease [4]
When the data were stratified by sex, we found significant differences for most micronutrients by age; vitamin B1, niacine, and iron weby found differences for mostby micronutrients by age; vitamin B1, B1, calcium, niacine, and iron and intake sonssignificant did not differ significantly age
Summary
Both the quality and quantity of nutritional intake play important roles in health, especially among children and adolescents, who are experiencing a period of growth that has important implications for their ability to achieve their full potential. Most research has focused primarily on total energy intake or consumption of various food groups, likely because obesity is a major public health problem. The majority of family-based studies have focused on macronutrient intake, such as total energy and percentage of macronutrient intake [6]. Scant research about the similarities and differences in the micronutrient consumption of family members has been conducted. One study of national data from the US reported similarities among the nutritional consumption patterns of family members, but this study focused on macronutrients [9]
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