A Snapshot of European Children’s Eating Habits: Results from the Fourth Round of the WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI)
Journal
Nutrients
Date Issued
2020-08-17
Author(s)
Williams, Julianne
Buoncristiano, Marta
Nardone, Paola
Rito, Ana Isabel
Spinelli, Angela
Hejgaard, Tatjana
Kierkegaard, Lene
Nurk, Eha
Kunešová, Marie
Musić Milanović, Sanja
García-Solano, Marta
Gutiérrez-González, Enrique
Brinduse, Lacramioara Aurelia
Cucu, Alexandra
Fijałkowska, Anna
Farrugia Sant’Angelo, Victoria
Abdrakhmanova, Shynar
Pudule, Iveta
Duleva, Vesselka
Yardim, Nazan
Gualtieri, Andrea
Heinen, Mirjam
Bel-Serrat, Silvia
Usupova, Zhamyla
Peterkova, Valentina
Shengelia, Lela
Hyska, Jolanda
Tanrygulyyeva, Maya
Petrauskiene, Ausra
Rakhmatullaeva, Sanavbar
Kujundzic, Enisa
Ostojic, Sergej M.
Weghuber, Daniel
Melkumova, Marina
Starc, Gregor
Rutter, Harry
Rathmes, Giulia
Bunge, Anne Charlotte
Rakovac, Ivo
Boymatova, Khadichamo
Weber, Martin
Breda, João
DOI
10.3390/nu12082481
Abstract
Consuming a healthy diet in childhood helps to protect against malnutrition and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). This cross-sectional study described the diets of 132,489 children aged six to nine years from 23 countries participating in round four (2015–2017) of the WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI). Children’s parents or caregivers were asked to complete a questionnaire that contained indicators of energy-balance-related behaviors (including diet). For each country, we calculated the percentage of children who consumed breakfast, fruit, vegetables, sweet snacks or soft drinks “every day”, “most days (four to six days per week)”, “some days (one to three days per week)”, or “never or less than once a week”. We reported these results stratified by country, sex, and region. On a daily basis, most children (78.5%) consumed breakfast, fewer than half (42.5%) consumed fruit, fewer than a quarter (22.6%) consumed fresh vegetables, and around one in ten consumed sweet snacks or soft drinks (10.3% and 9.4%, respectively); however, there were large between-country differences. This paper highlights an urgent need to create healthier food and drink environments, reinforce health systems to promote healthy diets, and continue to support child nutrition and obesity surveillance.
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Loading...
Name
nutrients-12-02481-v2.pdf
Size
1.22 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum
(MD5):61a00f7c02873ea98485ca22e388c98c