Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Academy of Medicine, Faculty of Public Health, Lithuania.
BMC Public Health. 2012 Jan 19;12:52. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-12-52.
Intermittent monitoring of food intake at the population level is essential for the planning and evaluation of national dietary intervention programs. Social-economic changes in Lithuania have likely affected dietary habits, but only a limited number of temporal studies on food intake trends among young population groups have been published. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in eating habits among Lithuanian school-aged children from 2002 to 2010, and to explore the association of these changes with the respondents' reported socio-economic status (SES).
We used Lithuanian data from the cross-national Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study collected in 2002, 2006 and 2010. Analyses were conducted on comparable questionnaire-based data from children aged 11, 13 and 15 (total n = 17,189) from a random sample of schools. A food frequency questionnaire was used to investigate frequencies of food consumption. Logistic regression was used to examine the affects of changing social variables on reported diet trends.
In Lithuania, school-aged children have low intakes of fruits and vegetables. Only 21.1% of boys and 27.1% of girls reported daily fruit consumption. Similarly, 24.9% of boys and 29.6% of girls disclosed vegetable intake at least once daily. Comparing 2010 to 2002, the proportion of girls who consumed fruits daily increased from 24.2% to 31.0% (p < 0.001) but the proportion of boys who consumed vegetables daily decreased from 29.3% to 23.1% (p < 0.001). In 2006, for both sexes, there were observed increases in regular (at least five days a week) intake of sweets and chocolates, biscuits and pastries, and soft drinks; however, in the next survey (2010) these figures decreased. In addition, between 2006 and 2010, a substantial decrease in regular consumption of chips and fast food was also detected. Fruit and vegetable consumption as well as intake of sweets and chocolates, biscuits and pastries and soft drinks increased with family social-economic status and family material wealth. Trends in consumption of fruits, and other foods, and their association with changing social variables were demonstrated using the ORs estimated by three logistic models, using 2002 as the reference point. Changes in social variables from 2002 to 2010 affected the likelihood of daily consumption of fruits among boys by 22.5% (the corresponding OR decreased from 1.11 to 0.86) and among girls by 34.0% (the corresponding OR decreased from 1.41 to 1.12). Over the study period, changing social variables had little impact on the daily consumption of vegetables and other foods.
Based on the food consumption trends observed in Lithuania, increases in consumption of fruits and vegetables should be promoted, along with a reduction in the intake of less healthy choices, such as soft drinks and high-fat, high-sugar snack foods, by diminishing social inequalities in food consumption.
间歇性监测人群的食物摄入量对于规划和评估国家饮食干预计划至关重要。立陶宛的社会经济变化可能影响了饮食习惯，但只有少数关于年轻人群组食物摄入趋势的时间性研究已经发表。本研究旨在调查立陶宛学龄儿童饮食习惯的变化，并探讨这些变化与受访者报告的社会经济地位（SES）之间的关系。
我们使用了来自跨国健康行为在学龄儿童（HBSC）研究的立陶宛数据，该研究于 2002 年、2006 年和 2010 年进行。我们对来自随机抽取的学校的 11 岁、13 岁和 15 岁（总 n=17189）的具有可比性的基于问卷的数据进行了分析。使用食物频率问卷来调查食物消费频率。使用逻辑回归来检查社会变量变化对报告的饮食趋势的影响。
立陶宛的学龄儿童水果和蔬菜摄入量较低。只有 21.1%的男孩和 27.1%的女孩报告每天吃水果。同样，只有 24.9%的男孩和 29.6%的女孩每天吃蔬菜。与 2002 年相比，2010 年每天吃水果的女孩比例从 24.2%增加到 31.0%（p<0.001），但每天吃蔬菜的男孩比例从 29.3%下降到 23.1%（p<0.001）。2006 年，男孩和女孩都有定期（至少每周五天）摄入甜食和巧克力、饼干和糕点以及软饮料的增加；然而，在下一次调查（2010 年）中，这些数字有所下降。此外，在 2006 年至 2010 年期间，还发现定期食用薯片和快餐的人数大量减少。水果和蔬菜的消费以及甜食、巧克力、饼干和糕点以及软饮料的摄入量随着家庭社会经济地位和家庭物质财富的增加而增加。使用三个逻辑模型估计的 OR 值展示了水果和其他食物的消费趋势及其与不断变化的社会变量之间的关系，使用 2002 年作为参考点。2002 年至 2010 年期间社会变量的变化影响了男孩每天食用水果的可能性，男孩的可能性降低了 22.5%（相应的 OR 从 1.11 降至 0.86），女孩的可能性降低了 34.0%（相应的 OR 从 1.41 降至 1.12）。在研究期间，社会变量的变化对蔬菜和其他食物的每日消费影响不大。
基于立陶宛观察到的食物消费趋势，应促进水果和蔬菜的消费增加，并通过减少食物消费方面的社会不平等，减少软饮料和高脂肪、高糖零食等不太健康选择的摄入。
