Abstract
PurposesDietary free sugars (FS) are the most important risk factor for dental caries and can contribute to excess energy intake. Measuring FS intake is limited by food composition databases and appropriate dietary assessment methods. The aim of this analysis was to estimate total sugar (TS) and FS intakes for Irish pre-schoolers and examine the proportion of dietary TS and FS captured using a short food questionnaire (SFQ).MethodsThis is a secondary analysis of 3-year-old children from two national surveys; Growing Up in Ireland (GUI), N = 9793 of whom 49% were girls and the National Preschool Nutrition Survey (NPNS), N = 126 and 52% were girls. GUI used SFQs and NPNS used semi-weighed food diaries to collect dietary data from 3-year-old children. Dietary intake databases were linked using an established approach. Mean daily TS and FS intakes and frequency were calculated, and consumption patterns from foods and meals are presented. The proportion of foods that were covered or non-covered by the GUI SFQ was calculated by comparison with the NPNS food diary.Results75% of 3 year-olds had FS intake greater than the maximum recommended by WHO guidelines for free sugar intake, while 4% met the lower threshold. The median frequency of TS and FS consumption was 5.0 (4.0–6.0) and 4.0 (3.0–5.0) times/day. Less than one-quarter of TS intake (g/day) was non-covered by the GUI SFQ while less than one-third of FS intake was non-covered.ConclusionsA large majority of 3-year-old Irish children do not meet the WHO recommended guidelines for FS intake and almost none meet the desired conditional recommendation. SFQs only capture two-thirds of FS intake at this early age.
Highlights
High intakes of dietary sugars have been implicated as a public health issue with concerns regarding their contribution to increased obesity prevalence and negative impact on oral health [1,2,3]
We reported food consumption estimated by the short food questionnaire (SFQ) in Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) relative to the more detailed dietary assessment in National Preschool Nutrition Survey (NPNS)
Using the linked datasets this paper aims to: (1) quantify free sugars (FS) intake in Irish preschool children; (2) determine the distribution of total sugars (TS) and FS consumption patterns compared to the WHO guidelines; (3) compare how well the SFQ in the GUI study captured the sources of TS/FS compared to NPNS and (4) identify the key food sources of TS/FS consumed as part of a main meal or snack
Summary
High intakes of dietary sugars have been implicated as a public health issue with concerns regarding their contribution to increased obesity prevalence and negative impact on oral health [1,2,3]. Dietary free sugars (FS) are the most important risk factor in the development of dental caries [4, 5] and can contribute to excess energy intake with little nutrient benefit. The term “sugar” refers to sucrose or “table sugar” while total sugars (TS) can be defined as the sum of natural and added sugars (AS) in a food or beverage [7]. AS include those sugars added during the production or processing of food and not naturally found in the food product [8] and is the term defined by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA. Free sugars (FS), which is the preferred term used by the WHO, includes sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates as well as AS. Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition advises that the average population intake of FS should not be greater than 5% of TEI from 2 years upwards and that for children
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