Socioeconomic status of parents influences children's eating habits

Whether a child eats healthy food, or rather processed or sweet food depends on the parents‘ educational level and household income. This has been confirmed by a new study which investigated how the eating habits of children change over time, and how they are influenced by the socio-economic status of their parents. The study is based on data from children from eight European countries who participated in the EU project IDEFICS. Researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology – BIPS co-authored the study publication which appeared in the British Journal of Nutrition.

Does the socio-economic status of parents – education, occupation, income and residential area – have an effect on the eating habits of children? Does it influence which foods children choose? To fully comprehend and evaluate the eating habits of children, researchers investigated the eating and lifestyle habits of 9,301 children in the context of the IDEFICS study, which was coordinated by the University of Bremen and the BIPS. The researchers correlated the children’s eating and lifestyle habits to the socio-economic status of the parents. The children were between the ages of two and nine years at the baseline survey and between four and eleven years at follow-up.

The study was conducted in Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Hungary and Cyprus. Parents completed questionnaires on what their children had eaten over the past four weeks. The questions focused on 42 food items. To enable parents to give the required information, intake was restricted to the home domain.

The researchers then compared the relative frequency of consumption of each of the listed food items and distinguished three dietary categories: "processed food", such as snacks and ready-made meals, "sweet food" such as sweets and sweetened beverages, and "healthy food" such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains. The results showed that children whose parents had a higher educational level and high household incomes were more likely to be allocated to the "healthy food" cluster and less likely to the "sweet food" cluster. Children with a migrant background were more likely to be allocated to the "processed food" cluster.

„This result confirms that social inequalities have an effect on the eating habits of children. So far, many prevention approaches to healthy eating were ineffective because we cannot change the social life environment of the children and youth with the activities," said Dr. Antje Hebestreit, head of the unit "Lifestyle Related Disorders" at BIPS. “The commencement of the German ‘Prevention Act’, which has been going through the legislative process since 2005 and is expected to be passed in autumn, would be a step in the right direction. The ‘Prevention Act’ aims to support and strengthen the health competency of families. Health policies which support kindergarten and schools are certainly more effective, so that children from all social groups are offered a healthy living environment, at least during care and school time."

The investigations started in the IDEFICS study are continued in the EU-funded I.Family study which is coordinated by BIPS and the University of Bremen. The IDEFICS children are now teenagers. They are participating in the I.Family study again, together with their siblings and parents. The project aims to investigate the motives which lead to a healthy diet and lifestyle, and barriers which can prevent this.

Publication:
“Prospective associations between socio-economic status and dietary patterns in European children: The Identification and Prevention of Dietary- and Lifestyle-induced Health Effects in Children and Infants (IDEFICS) Study”
Fernández-Alvira JM, Börnhorst C, Bammann K, Gwozdz W, Krogh V, Hebestreit A, Barba G, Reisch L, Eiben G, Iglesia I, Veidebaum T, Kourides YA, Kovacs E, Huybrechts I, Pigeot I, Moreno LA, on behalf of the IDEFICS consortium. British Journal of Nutrition. 2015;113(3):517-525. dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0007114514003663

Further information:
IDEFICS study: www.ideficsstudy.eu
I.Family study: www.ifamilystudy.eu

Contact:
Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology – BIPS
Dr. Antje Hebestreit
Phone +49/(0)421/218-56849
Email hebestr(at)bips.uni-bremen.de

Press office BIPS
Anja Wirsing
Phone +49/(0)421/218-56780
Email presse(at)bips.uni-bremen.de