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Relationship of food frequencies as reported by parents to overweight and obesity at 5 years
Author(s) -
Huus Karina,
Brekke Hilde K.,
Ludvigsson Jonas F.,
Ludvigsson Johnny
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2008.01043.x
Subject(s) - overweight , medicine , obesity , confounding , prospective cohort study , french fries , environmental health , body mass index , demography , pediatrics , food science , chemistry , sociology
Aim: To investigate if food frequencies are related to overweight/obesity in 5‐year‐old children. Methods: During 1997–1999, 21 700 infants were invited to participate in ABIS (All Babies in Southeast Sweden), a prospective, cohort study. Participants were followed from birth (n = 16 058) to 5 years (n = 7356). Food frequencies reported by parents at 2.5 and 5 years were studied in the relation to overweight/obesity at 5 years using multiple logistic regressions. A p‐value < 0.01 was considered statistically significant. Results: At 2.5 years frequencies of intake of cheese were positively associated with overweight/obesity at 5 years while porridge, fried potatoes/french fries and cream/crème fraiche showed a negative association. When adjusting for known risk factors, porridge and fried potatoes/french fries remained negatively associated with overweight/obesity. At 5 years, chocolate and lemonade were positively associated with overweight/obesity whereas cream/crème fraiche, pastries and candy were negatively associated. Candy remained negatively associated to overweight/obesity after adjustment for potential confounders. Conclusion: Food frequencies do not offer any simple explanation for overweight/obesity. Porridge at 2.5 years may protect against overweight/obesity at 5 years, while lemonade may contribute to overweight. Our finding that fried potatoes/french fries may protect against overweight/obesity is unexpected and must be interpreted with caution. These findings should be confirmed by prospective studies using objective recordings.