Abstract
This study aims to examine whether there were changes between 1995–2012 in the dietary glycaemic index (dGI) and glycaemic load (dGL) in Australian children (<16 years) according to three national surveys in 1995 (1995NS), 2007 (2007NS), and 2011–2012 (2012NS). Glycaemic index (GI) values of foods were assigned using published methodology. Plausible 24-h recall data from the 1995NS, 2007NS and 2012NS (weighted n = 2475, 4373 and 1691 respectively) were compared for differences in dGI and dGL, and the contribution to dGL from different foods using one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post hoc comparisons and linear regression. Decreasing trends across surveys were found in dGI and dGL (p < 0.001). Between 1995 and 2012, dGI and dGL per Megajoule (MJ) dropped by 2% and 6% respectively. The per capita dGL contribution from breads and bread rolls, fruit and vegetable juices, sweetened beverages and potatoes showed strong decreasing trends (R2 > 0.7). Our findings suggest that dGI and dGL of Australian youths declined between 1995 to 2012, which may be due to increased awareness of the GI concept and healthy diet, widened food choices and immigrants with diverse dietary habits. This may lower the future risks of chronic degenerative diseases in Australian youths.
Highlights
The relationship between dietary carbohydrates, postprandial glycaemia and health outcomes remains controversial
Our group have previously investigated the cross-sectional dietary data of Australian adolescents in 2007 and 2012 and the changes in healthy and unhealthy food intakes between 1995 and 2007, where we showed that Australian youths were generally had a healthier diet in 2007 than in 1995, and they appeared to have a lower dietary glycaemic index (dGI) than European children in 2011–2012 [20,21,22]
Among German children in the DONALD study who were 7 to 8 years old in the 1990, 1996 and 2002 cross-sections, dGI increased from 55.1 to 56.0 56.5 in the 12 year period, while glycaemic load (GL) per MJ had increased from 16.7 to 17.5 plateaued [42]. This contrasts with our finding that Australian children and adolescents had a lower dGL over a 17-year period, which could be largely explained by the diverging trends in carbohydrate food choices
Summary
The relationship between dietary carbohydrates, postprandial glycaemia and health outcomes remains controversial. One measure of carbohydrate quality, the glycaemic index (GI), was first introduced in 1981 as a metric describing the extent to which blood glucose is raised by available carbohydrates in different foods [1]. A lower GI indicates that the carbohydrates in a given food has a lower effect on postprandial blood glucose and possibly insulin responses. The carbohydrates in high GI foods will lead to a greater surge of postprandial blood glucose level [3]. GL has been shown to be superior to the absolute amount of carbohydrate alone in predicting postprandial glycaemia in the context of both single foods and mixed meals [5]
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