Food group intake among adolescents in Guangzhou city compared with the Chinese dietary guidelines.

Abstract

Food group intake in adolescents has many health implications. However, no study has been conducted to assess food group intake among Chinese adolescents. The purpose of this study was to evaluate food group intakes among Chinese adolescents living in Guangzhou city and the proportion of adolescents surveyed meeting the Chinese dietary guidelines, and the Chinese food pagoda for a balanced diet 2007. A school-based cross-sectional survey was conducted in Guangzhou city between October 2006 and April 2007. A random sample of 2977 adolescents, aged 12 to 17 years, was interviewed. A self-administered semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire was used to estimate food group intakes of adolescents. A high percentage of adolescents consumed too little plant foods including vegetables, fruit, and soybean products. Only 9%, 14% and 6% of adolescents surveyed reached the minimum daily recommended intake levels for vegetables, fruit, and soybean products and nuts. Nearly 70% of the studied adolescents consumed dairy less than the recommended daily intake and more than 20% adolescents reached the recommended amounts for cereals and eggs. More than one-third (35.6%) of adolescents did not meet any food group recommendations. And no adolescents reached all eight food group recommendations. An inadequate consumption of calcium and iron among adolescents was also found. The results of this study indicate that most adolescents living in Guangzhou city are not meeting the current recommendations for intakes of the various food groups.