Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T03:45:03.204Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Meal patterns and food use in 10- to 11-year-old Finnish children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

Mila Haapalahti*
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, University of Oulu, PO Box 5000, FIN-90014 Oulu, Finland. Department of Clinical Nutrition, University of Kuopio, PO Box 1627, FIN-70211 Kuopio, Finland.
Hannu Mykkänen
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Nutrition, University of Kuopio, PO Box 1627, FIN-70211 Kuopio, Finland.
Sami Tikkanen
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, University of Oulu, PO Box 5000, FIN-90014 Oulu, Finland.
Jorma Kokkonen
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, University of Oulu, PO Box 5000, FIN-90014 Oulu, Finland.
*
*Corresponding author: Email [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Objective:

To describe the meal patterns and food use on weekdays among 10- to 11-year-old Finnish children and to analyse these in relation to family's socio-economic status and the child's behaviour.

Design:

Cross-sectional study on a cohort of 404 children aged 10–11 years in the rural town of Ylivieska, mid-western Finland.

Methods:

A food-frequency questionnaire including questions on meal patterns and food use and the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) completed by the parents and the child together.

Results:

Practically all children (99%) ate breakfast regularly, 94% had a daily school lunch and 80% had dinner at home daily. Vegetables were consumed daily at home by 26% and fruits or berries by 21%, while 46% of the children had salad daily at school. Twenty-four per cent ate sweets daily or nearly so on weekdays. The children from families of high socio-economic status ate vegetables more often, and fewer of them used butter or high-fat milk. The children with no regular family dinner ate sweets and fast foods more often, and had higher total CBCL problem scores than those with a regular family dinner.

Conclusion:

Skipping meals appears not to be common among Finnish children aged 10–11 years, but a considerable proportion consume sweets frequently and vegetables infrequently. High family socio-economic status and a tendency to eat together are associated with healthy food choices among schoolchildren.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © CABI Publishing 2003

References

1Gibson, EL, Wardle, J, Watts, CJ. Fruit and vegetable consumption, nutritional knowledge and beliefs in mothers and children. Appetite 1998; 31: 205–28.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2Koivisto Hursti, UK. Factors influencing children's food choice. Ann. Med. 1999; 31(Suppl. 1): 2632.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3Räsänen, L, Ahola, M, Kara, RUhari, M. Atherosclerosis precursors in Finnish children and adolescents. VIII. Food consumption and nutrient intakes. Acta Paediatr. Scand. Suppl. 1985; 318: 135–53.Google Scholar
4Prättälä, R. Socio-demographic differences in fat and sugar consumption patterns among Finnish adolescents. Ecol. Food. Nutr. 1988; 22: 5364.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5Laitinen, S, Rasanen, L, Viikari, J, Akerblom, HK. Diet of Finnish children in relation to the family's socio-economic status. Scand. J. Soc. Med. 1995; 23(2): 8894.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6Höglund, D, Samuelson, G, Mark, A. Food habits in Swedish adolescents in relation to socio-economic conditions. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 1998; 52: 784–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7Gillman, MW, Rifas-Shiman, SL, Frazier, AL, Rockett, HR, Camargo, CA Jr, Field, AE, et al. Family dinner and diet quality among older children and adolescents. Arch. Fam. Med. 2000; 9: 235–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8Stockmyer, C. Remember when mom wanted you home for dinner? Nutr. Rev. 2001; 59(2): 5760.Google Scholar
9Hirvonen, T, Lahti-Koski, M, Roos, E, Pietinen, P, Rimpelä, M. Food choices and school lunch eating among adolescents. J. Soc. Med. 1999; 36: 162–71.Google Scholar
10Samuelson, G. Dietary habits and nutritional status in adolescents over Europe. An overview of current studies in the Nordic countries. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 2000; 54(Suppl. 1): 2128.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11Samuelson, G, Bratteby, LE, Enghardt, H, Hedgren, M. Food habits and energy and nutrient intake in Swedish adolescents approaching the year 2000. Acta Paediatr. Suppl. 1996; 415: 120.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12Hagman, U, Bruce, A, Persson, LA, Samuelson, G, Sjolin, S. Food habits and nutrient intake in childhood in relation to health and socio-economic conditions. A Swedish Multicentre Study 1980–81. Acta Paediatr. Scand. Suppl. 1986; 328: 156.Google Scholar
13Frost Andersen, L, Nes, M, Bjorneboe, G-EA, Drevon, CA. Food habits among 13-year-old Norwegian adolescents. Scand. J. Nutr. 1997; 41: 150–4.Google Scholar
14Statistical Yearbook of Finland 2000. Statistics Finland, Vol. 95 (New Series). Keuruu, 2000.Google Scholar
15Achenbach, TM. Manual for the Child Behaviour Checklist and 1991 Profile. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry, 1991.Google Scholar
16The 1997 Dietary Survey of Finnish Adults. National Public Health Institute B8/1988. Helsinki, 1998.Google Scholar
17Classification of Occupations 2001. Statistics Finland, Handbooks 14. Helsinki, 2001.Google Scholar
18Frost Andersen, L, Nes, M, Bjorneboe, G-EA, Drevon, CA. Dietary intake among Norwegian adolescents. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 1995; 49: 555–64.Google Scholar
19Cullen, KW, Baranowski, T, Rittenberry, L, Cosart, C, Hebert, D, de Moor, C. Child-reported family and peer influences on fruit, juice and vegetable consumption: reliability and validity of measures. Health Educ. Res. 2001; 16(2): 187200.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20Paulus, D, Saint-Remy, A, Jeanjean, M. Dietary habits during adolescence – results of the Belgian Adolux Study. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr 2001; 55: 130–6.Google Scholar
21Baranowski, T, Smith, M, Hearn, MD, Lin, LS, Baranowski, J, Doyle, C, et al. Patterns in children's fruit and vegetable consumption by meal and day of the week. J. Am. Coll. Nutr. 1997; 16(3): 216–23.Google Scholar
22Prättälä, R, Rahkonen, O, Rimpelä, M. Consumption patterns of critical fat sources among adolescents in 1977–1985. Nutr. Res. 1986; 6: 485–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23Räsänen, L, Laitinen, S, Stirkkinen, R, Kimppa, S, Viikari, J, Uhari, M, et al. Composition of the diet of young Finns in 1986. Ann. Med. 1991; 23: 7380.Google Scholar