Data Collections:
- 24-hour dietary recalls with questionnaires on child eating behavior, parents’ feeding practices, etc.
Key Findings:
Diet quality |
- Consumption of food groups vs. HK Healthy Eating Pyramid for children aged 2-5 years:
Food groups |
Consumption Status |
Results (Daily intake) |
Grain |
Adequate |
4.8 servings vs. the recommended 3-6 servings
(1 serving = 0.5 cup cooked grain) |
Vegetable |
Adequate |
1.54 servings vs. the recommended 1.5 servings
(1 serving = 0.5 cup of cooked vegetable) |
Fruit |
Adequate |
1.08 servings vs. the recommended at least 1 serving
(1 serving = 1 medium size fruit) |
Milk & Dairy
(including formula milk)
|
Inadequate |
1.6 servings vs. the recommended 2 servings
(1 serving = 240 mL) |
Meat |
Excessive |
4.3 servings vs. the recommended 2-4 servings
(1 serving = 1 oz) |
- Micronutrients intake:
Mean intakes of vitamin D, calcium, iron and zinc were significantly lower (p < 0.05) than the Chinese recommended nutrient intakes (Chinese RNIs)
|
Children’s food preferences (% of surveyed children) [top 2 items] |
- Fruit group (34%), followed by milk (23%)
- Red-colored foods (26%), followed by orange-colored (21%)
- Foods served at warm temperature (54%), followed by room temperature (22%)
|
Parents’ feeding behavior |
- 77% of parents reported that they sometimes / always experienced difficulties when feeding their child, but only 30% had consulted a healthcare professional
- 67.4% of parents reported they provided dietary supplements to their child, including cod liver oil (40.8%), vitamin C (19.0%), vitamin A+D (13.6%), multivitamins (8.2%), and vitamin A+D with calcium (4.8%)
- 36% of children were currently consuming formula milk, in which over 96% of them were consuming cow’s milk-based formula
|
Authors’ Conclusions:
- The study showed that diet quality among children in Hong Kong needs improvement, and the results may be useful to develop nutrition interventions for improving children’s diet quality
WYE-EM-050-MAR-17
Reference
Yip PS, et al. Diet quality and eating behavioral patterns in preschool children in Hong Kong. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2017;26(2):298-307. Link to PubMed