Daily meal frequency and associated variables in children and adolescents<sup>,</sup>

Silva, Fabiana A.; Candiá, Samara M.; Pequeno, Marina S.; Sartorelli, Daniela S.; Mendes, Larissa L.; Oliveira, Renata M.S.; Netto, Michele P.; Cândido, Ana Paula C.

doi:10.1016/j.jped.2016.04.008

Acessibilidade / Reportar erro

Brasil

Español English

sumário « anterior atual seguinte »

Sumário

Original articles • J. Pediatr. (Rio J.) 93 (1) • Jan/Feb 2017 • https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jped.2016.04.008 copy

Daily meal frequency and associated variables in children and adolescents^☆ ☆ Please cite this article as: Silva FA, Candiá SM, Pequeno MS, Sartorelli DS, Mendes LL, Oliveira RM, et al. Daily meal frequency and associated variables in children and adolescents. J Pediatr (Rio J). 2017;93:79-86. ^,^☆☆ ☆☆ Study conducted at the Department of Nutrition, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (UFJF), Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract:

Objective:

To investigate the frequency distribution of daily meals and its relation to demographic, socioeconomic, behavioral, anthropometric and biochemical factors in children and adolescents.

Methods:

This was a cross-sectional study with a representative sample of 708 schoolchildren aged 7-14 years. Data on personal information, socioeconomic status, physical activity and number of meals were obtained through semi-structured questionnaire and consumption by 24-h recall and food record. Weight and height measurements were also performed to calculate the body mass index. Finally, blood samples were collected for analysis of total cholesterol, high- and low density lipoprotein, triglyceride, and glucose levels. Descriptive statistics, the Mann-Whitney test, and Poisson regression were used in statistical analysis.

Results:

Meal frequency <4 was associated in children, family income <3 Brazilian minimum wages (PR = 5.42; 95% CI: 1.29-22.77; p = 0.021) and adolescents, the number of sons in the family >2 (PR = 1.53; 95% CI: 1.11-2.11; p = 0.010). Even in the age group of 10-14 years, <4 meals was related to higher prevalence of body mass index (PR = 1.33; 95% CI: 1.02-1.74; p = 0.032) and low-density lipoprotein (PR = 1.39; 95% CI: 1.03-1.87; p = 0.030) higher after adjustments.

Conclusion:

Lower frequency of meals was related to lower income in children and adolescents, larger number of sons in the family, and increased values of body mass index and low-density lipoprotein.

KEYWORDS
Meal frequency; Cardiovascular risk factors; Children and adolescents

Variables	n	Children^a a Data expressed as median and minimum and maximum ranges or mean ± standard deviation.	n	Adolescents^a a Data expressed as median and minimum and maximum ranges or mean ± standard deviation.	p ^b b Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test.
Age (years)	205	8.00 (5-9)	500	12.00 (10-16)	<0.001
BMI (kg/m²)	204	16.66 (12.4-32.5)	499	18.75 (13-40.3)	<0.001
TC (mg/dL)	185	158.00 (99-243)	468	152.00 (82-249)	0.021
HDL (mg/dL)	141	49.00 (27-90)	378	47.00 (22-89)	0.097
LDL (mg/dL)	141	97.00 (11-178)	378	91.00 (29-162)	0.021
TG (mg/dL)	184	59.50 (19-231)	468	63.00 (11-272)	0.536
GLU (mg/dL)	180	79.00 (23-118)	463	82.00 (23-104)	<0.001
TPA (min)	197	79.61 (±101.51)	491	113.42 (±142.47)	0.030
Daily meals	191	4.31 (±1.03)	491	3.99 (±1.03)	<0.001
Calories/day	190	1701.79 (697.76-2996.21)	490	1700.82 (622.82-3763.02)	0.830

Variables	Frequency of daily meals		PR	95% CI	p ^d d Poisson regression.
	<4 n (%)	≥4^a a Cutoff according to the median of the studied population. n (%)
Gender
Male	18 (47.4)	83 (54.2)	1	-
Female	20 (52.6)	70 (45.8)	1.25	0.70-2.21	0.449
Maternal age (years) ^a a Cutoff according to the median of the studied population.
<40	12 (54.5)	65 (67.7)	1	-
≥40	10 (45.5)	31 (32.3)	1.56	0.74-3.32	0.243
Maternal level of schooling (years)
≥9	20 (69.0)	86 (60.6)	1	-
<9	9 (31.0)	56 (39.4)	0.73	0.35-1.52	0.403
Mother works outside the home
No	13 (41.9)	68 (46.9)	1	-
Yes	18 (58.1)	77 (53.1)	1.18	0.61-2.26	0.617
Family income (BMW) ^a a Cutoff according to the median of the studied population.
≥3	3 (11.5)	50 (36.0)	1	-
<3	23 (88.5)	89 (64.0)	3.63	1.13-11.59	0.030
Number of children ^a a Cutoff according to the median of the studied population.
≤2	16 (51.6)	90 (63.4)	1	-
>2	15 (48.4)	52 (36.6)	1. 48	0.78-2.80	0.225
Hours of TV ^b b Number of daily hours of TV during the week.
<2 h	18 (50.0)	53 (37.1)	1	-
≥2 h	18 (50.0)	90 (62.9)	0. 66	0.37-1.18	0.158
Physical activity ^c c Active: ≥300 min of physical activity/week; inactive: <300 min of physical activity/week.
Active	4 (10.5)	11 (7.3)	1	-
Inactive	34 (89.5)	139 (92.7)	0.74	0.30-1.80	0.503
BMI
<Z-score + 1	24 (64.9)	97 (63.8)	1	-
≥Z-score + 1	13 (35.1)	55 (36.2)	0.98	0.60-1.59	0. 927
LDL
<100 mg/dL	8 (34.8)	62 (55.9)	1	-
≥100 mg/dL	15 (65.2)	49 (44.1)	1.48	1.02-2.13	0.037

Variables	Frequency of daily meals		PR	95% CI	p ^d d Poisson regression.
	<4 n (%)	≥4^a a Cutoff according to the median of the studied population. n (%)
Gender
Male	55 (35.9)	173 (51.2)	1	-	-
Female	98 (64.1)	165 (48.8)	1.54	1.17-2.04	0.002
Maternal age (years) ^a a Cutoff according to the median of the studied population.
<40	36 (48.0)	98 (57.0)	1	-
≥40	39 (52.0)	74 (43.0)	1.28	0.88-1.87	0.194
Maternal level of schooling (years)
≥9	47 (44.8)	141 (55.7)	1	-
<9	58 (55.2)	112 (44.3)	1.36	0.99-1.89	0.060
Mother works outside the home
No	45 (41.3)	114 (43.0)	1	-
Yes	64 (58.7)	151 (57.0)	1.05	0.76-1.45	0.759
Family income (BMW) ^a a Cutoff according to the median of the studied population.
≥3	24 (24.0)	76 (29.7)	1	-
<3	76 (76.0)	180 (70.3)	1.24	0.83-1.84	0.294
Number of children
≤2	46 (41.8)	151 (57.4)	1	-
>2	64 (58.2)	112 (42.6)	1.56	1.13-2.14	0.007
Hours of tv ^b b Number of daily hours of TV during the week.
≥2 h	84 (57.5)	202 (62.3)	1	-
<2 h	62 (42.5)	122 (37.7)	0.87	0.66-1.14	0.321
Physical activity ^c c Active: ≥300 min of physical activity/week; inactive: <300 min of physical activity/week.
Active	23 (15.2)	60 (18.2)	1	-
Inactive	128 (84.8)	269 (81.8)	1.16	0.80-1.69	0.430
BMI
<Z-score + 1	94 (62.3)	240 (71.4)	1	-
≥Z-score + 1	57 (37.7)	96 (28.6)	1.31	1.00-1.71	0.043
LDL
<100 mg/dL	65 (57.0)	174 (67.7)	1
≥100 mg/dL	49 (43.0)	83 (32.3)	1.33	1.00-1.75	0.042

Variables	Children
	PR	95% CI	p ^d d Values related to the adjusted Poisson regression.
Family income ^a a Includes gender and hours of TV.
≥3 BMW	1	-
<3 BMW	5.42	1.29-22.77	0.021
Variables	Adolescents
	PR	95% CI	p ^d d Values related to the adjusted Poisson regression.
Number of children ^b b Includes gender.
≤2	1	-
>2	1.53	1.11-2.11	0.010
BMI ^c c Includes gender, energy intake, and physical activity classification.
<Z-score + 1	1	-
≥Z-score + 1	1.33	1.02-1.74	0.032
LDL ^c c Includes gender, energy intake, and physical activity classification.
<100 mg/dL	1	-
≥100 mg/dL	1.39	1.03-1.87	0.030

Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria Av. Carlos Gomes, 328 cj. 304, 90480-000 Porto Alegre RS Brazil, Tel.: +55 51 3328-9520 - Porto Alegre - RS - Brazil
E-mail: jped@jped.com.br

Acompanhe os números deste periódico no seu leitor de RSS

[1] * Corresponding author. E-mail:anapaula.candido@ufjf.edu.br (A.P. Cândido).