Socioeconomic vulnerabilities and food intake in European children: The Feel4Diabetes Study

Abstract

ObjectivesSocioeconomic inequalities create substantial burdens influencing children's health status and diet quality. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between cumulative socioeconomic vulnerabilities and differences in the food intake of children. MethodsThis was a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from 12 041 European parent–child dyads (children were 5–12 y of age with 49% boys) enrolled in the Feel4 Diabetes study. Parents completed standardized questionnaires to record details on socioeconomic status (SES), demographic, and children's frequency of food and beverage intake. Vulnerable groups were defined as children whose parents had <12 y of education, were unemployed, or reported difficult household income security. A cumulative SES vulnerability score (range 0–4) was created by adding the number of vulnerabilities a child was exposed to. ResultsLogistic regression showed that children with the highest SES vulnerability score were less likely to consume water (odds ratio [OR], 0.42; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.30–0.59), fresh fruit (OR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.56–0.78) and vegetables (OR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.56–0.81) daily in comparison with those with no SES vulnerabilities, whereas they were more likely to consume canned fruit (OR, 2.30; 95% CI, 1.64-3.24), fruit juice (OR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.14-1.77), soft drinks (regular: OR, 4.85; 95% CI, 3.85-6.10; diet: OR, 4.81; 95% CI, 3.28-7.06), and salty snacks/fast food (OR, 3.92; 95% CI, 3.05-5.04) daily, after adjusting for children's age, sex, country, and weight status. ConclusionThe findings of this study highlighted that an unhealthy dietary profile was characteristic of European children in families with a high number of SES vulnerabilities. School-based public health programs promoting healthy eating in children should prioritize families with cumulative SES vulnerabilities.