Parental dietary patterns and social determinants of children's dietary patterns

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objective To identify dietary patterns in children up to thirty months of age and verify whether they are associated with parental dietary patterns, and socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. Methods This is a cross-sectional study with baseline data from a population-based study composed of 1,085 households from a representative sample of a metropolitan region in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The children's food intake was evaluated by two 24-hour recalls, and the dietary patterns were identified by principal component analysis stratified into two groups according to the children's age: 6 to 17 months; and 18 to 30 months. The explanatory variables collected by a structured questionnaire were socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, age at introduction of complementary foods, and parental dietary pattern. A Food Frequency Questionnaire was administered to assess parental dietary pattern, which was determined by principal component analysis. Multivariate linear regression estimated the effect of each explanatory variable on the children's dietary patterns. Results Three dietary patterns were identified in children aged 6-17 months (basic-mixed; mixed-plus; and milk-flours) and two dietary patterns were identified in children aged 18-30 months: basic-mixed and mixed-plus. Multivariate linear regression showed that complementary feeding (b=0.108; p=0.004) was positively associated with the basic-mixed dietary pattern, and family income (b=0.002; p£0.01), with the mixed-plus dietary pattern. A negative association was found between the traditional parental dietary pattern and children's mixed-plus pattern in children aged 6-17 months (b=0.152; p=0.006) and in children aged 18-30 months (b=0.152; p=0.016). In children aged up to 18 months, parental education level (b=0.368; p£0.01) was positively associated with the mixed-plus dietary pattern. Conclusion Family income, parental education level, and parental dietary patterns are associated with children's dietary patterns.