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Social Inequalities in Young Children’s Meal Skipping Behaviors: The Generation R Study

BACKGROUND: Regular meal consumption is considered an important aspect of a healthy diet. While ample evidence shows social inequalities in breakfast skipping among adolescents, little is known about social inequalities in breakfast skipping and skipping of other meals among young school-aged childr...

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Autores principales: Wijtzes, Anne I., Jansen, Wilma, Jaddoe, Vincent W. V., Franco, Oscar H., Hofman, Albert, van Lenthe, Frank J., Raat, Hein
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4520523/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26225757
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0134487
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author Wijtzes, Anne I.
Jansen, Wilma
Jaddoe, Vincent W. V.
Franco, Oscar H.
Hofman, Albert
van Lenthe, Frank J.
Raat, Hein
author_facet Wijtzes, Anne I.
Jansen, Wilma
Jaddoe, Vincent W. V.
Franco, Oscar H.
Hofman, Albert
van Lenthe, Frank J.
Raat, Hein
author_sort Wijtzes, Anne I.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Regular meal consumption is considered an important aspect of a healthy diet. While ample evidence shows social inequalities in breakfast skipping among adolescents, little is known about social inequalities in breakfast skipping and skipping of other meals among young school-aged children. Such information is crucial in targeting interventions aimed to promote a healthy diet in children. METHODS: We examined data from 4704 ethnically diverse children participating in the Generation R Study, a population-based prospective cohort study in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Information on family socioeconomic position (SEP), ethnic background, and meal skipping behaviors was assessed by parent-reported questionnaire when the child was 6 years old. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the associations of family SEP (educational level, household income, employment status, family composition) and ethnic background with meal skipping behaviors, using high SEP children and native Dutch children as reference groups. RESULTS: Meal skipping prevalence ranged from 3% (dinner) to 11% (lunch). The prevalence of meal skipping was higher among low SEP children and ethnic minority children. Maternal educational level was independently associated with breakfast skipping ([low maternal educational level] OR: 2.21; 95% CI: 1.24,3.94). Paternal educational level was independently associated with lunch skipping ([low paternal educational level] OR: 1.53; 95% CI: 1.06,2.20) and dinner skipping ([mid-high paternal educational level] OR: 0.39; 95% CI: 0.20,0.76). Household income was independently associated with breakfast skipping ([low income] OR: 2.43, 95% CI: 1.40,4.22) and dinner skipping ([low income] OR: 2.44; 95% CI: 1.22,4.91). In general, ethnic minority children were more likely to skip breakfast, lunch, and dinner compared with native Dutch children. Adjustment for family SEP attenuated the associations of ethnic minority background with meal skipping behaviors considerably. CONCLUSION: Low SEP children and ethnic minority children are at an increased risk of breakfast, lunch, and dinner skipping compared with high SEP children and native Dutch children, respectively. Given these inequalities, interventions aimed to promote regular meal consumption, breakfast consumption in particular, should target children from low socioeconomic groups and ethnic minority children. More qualitative research to investigate the pathways underlying social inequalities in children’s meal skipping behaviors is warranted.
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spelling pubmed-45205232015-08-06 Social Inequalities in Young Children’s Meal Skipping Behaviors: The Generation R Study Wijtzes, Anne I. Jansen, Wilma Jaddoe, Vincent W. V. Franco, Oscar H. Hofman, Albert van Lenthe, Frank J. Raat, Hein PLoS One Research Article BACKGROUND: Regular meal consumption is considered an important aspect of a healthy diet. While ample evidence shows social inequalities in breakfast skipping among adolescents, little is known about social inequalities in breakfast skipping and skipping of other meals among young school-aged children. Such information is crucial in targeting interventions aimed to promote a healthy diet in children. METHODS: We examined data from 4704 ethnically diverse children participating in the Generation R Study, a population-based prospective cohort study in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Information on family socioeconomic position (SEP), ethnic background, and meal skipping behaviors was assessed by parent-reported questionnaire when the child was 6 years old. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the associations of family SEP (educational level, household income, employment status, family composition) and ethnic background with meal skipping behaviors, using high SEP children and native Dutch children as reference groups. RESULTS: Meal skipping prevalence ranged from 3% (dinner) to 11% (lunch). The prevalence of meal skipping was higher among low SEP children and ethnic minority children. Maternal educational level was independently associated with breakfast skipping ([low maternal educational level] OR: 2.21; 95% CI: 1.24,3.94). Paternal educational level was independently associated with lunch skipping ([low paternal educational level] OR: 1.53; 95% CI: 1.06,2.20) and dinner skipping ([mid-high paternal educational level] OR: 0.39; 95% CI: 0.20,0.76). Household income was independently associated with breakfast skipping ([low income] OR: 2.43, 95% CI: 1.40,4.22) and dinner skipping ([low income] OR: 2.44; 95% CI: 1.22,4.91). In general, ethnic minority children were more likely to skip breakfast, lunch, and dinner compared with native Dutch children. Adjustment for family SEP attenuated the associations of ethnic minority background with meal skipping behaviors considerably. CONCLUSION: Low SEP children and ethnic minority children are at an increased risk of breakfast, lunch, and dinner skipping compared with high SEP children and native Dutch children, respectively. Given these inequalities, interventions aimed to promote regular meal consumption, breakfast consumption in particular, should target children from low socioeconomic groups and ethnic minority children. More qualitative research to investigate the pathways underlying social inequalities in children’s meal skipping behaviors is warranted. Public Library of Science 2015-07-30 /pmc/articles/PMC4520523/ /pubmed/26225757 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0134487 Text en © 2015 Wijtzes et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Wijtzes, Anne I.
Jansen, Wilma
Jaddoe, Vincent W. V.
Franco, Oscar H.
Hofman, Albert
van Lenthe, Frank J.
Raat, Hein
Social Inequalities in Young Children’s Meal Skipping Behaviors: The Generation R Study
title Social Inequalities in Young Children’s Meal Skipping Behaviors: The Generation R Study
title_full Social Inequalities in Young Children’s Meal Skipping Behaviors: The Generation R Study
title_fullStr Social Inequalities in Young Children’s Meal Skipping Behaviors: The Generation R Study
title_full_unstemmed Social Inequalities in Young Children’s Meal Skipping Behaviors: The Generation R Study
title_short Social Inequalities in Young Children’s Meal Skipping Behaviors: The Generation R Study
title_sort social inequalities in young children’s meal skipping behaviors: the generation r study
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4520523/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26225757
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0134487
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