Intake of fibre-associated foods and texture preferences in relation to weight status among 9–12 years old children in 6 European countries

Hörmann-Wallner, M., Krause, R., Alfaro, B., Jilani, H., Laureati, M., Almli, V. L., Sandell, M., Sandvik, P., Zeinstra, G. G. and Methven, L. (2021) Intake of fibre-associated foods and texture preferences in relation to weight status among 9–12 years old children in 6 European countries. Frontiers in Nutrition, 8. 35. ISSN 2296-861X doi: 10.3389/fnut.2021.633807

Abstract/Summary

Plant foods, rich in fibre, can offer textures that children find difficult to orally manipulate, resulting in low preferences but are important for a healthy diet and prevention of overweight in children. Our aim was to investigate preferences for food texture, intake of fibre-associated foods and the relation to BMI. Three hundred thirty European children (9–12 years, 54% female) indicated their texture preferences using the Child-Food-Texture-Preference- Questionnaire (CFTPQ), and their parents responded on fibre-associated food consumption and anthropometric information. BMI was significantly lower for children with higher intake of wholegrain alternatives of common foods; in addition to being significantly influenced by country and the wearing of a dental brace. Overall BMI-for-age-percentiles (BMI_pct) were negatively associated with the consumption of wholegrain cereals, white pasta and wholemeal products and positively associated with the intake of legumes and white biscuits. In males, BMI_pct were negatively associated with wholegrain products and dried fruits, and in females, positively with legume consumption. A few country-related associations were found for BMI_pct and wholegrain biscuits, seeds and nuts and refined products. No overall correlation was found between BMI_pct and the texture preference of soft/hard foods by CFTPQ, except in Austria. We conclude that this study revealed evidence of a connection between fibre-associated foods and children‘s BMI at a cross-cultural level and that sex is an important determinant of fibre-associated food intake and the development of overweight in childhood.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/96804
Identification Number/DOI	10.3389/fnut.2021.633807
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy > Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences > Food Research Group
Publisher	Frontiers
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