Picky eating - A risk factor for underweight in Finnish preadolescents

Heli T Viljakainen; Rejane A O Figueiredo; Trine B Rounge; Elisabete Weiderpass

doi:10.1016/j.appet.2018.10.025

Picky eating - A risk factor for underweight in Finnish preadolescents

Appetite. 2019 Feb 1:133:107-114. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2018.10.025. Epub 2018 Oct 25.

Authors

Heli T Viljakainen¹, Rejane A O Figueiredo², Trine B Rounge³, Elisabete Weiderpass⁴

Affiliations

¹ Folkhälsan Institute of Genetics, Folkhälsan Research Center, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. Electronic address: heli.viljakainen@helsinki.fi.
² Folkhälsan Institute of Genetics, Folkhälsan Research Center, Helsinki, Finland; Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
³ Folkhälsan Institute of Genetics, Folkhälsan Research Center, Helsinki, Finland; Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Research, Cancer Registry of Norway, Institute of Population-based Cancer Research, Oslo, Norway.
⁴ Folkhälsan Institute of Genetics, Folkhälsan Research Center, Helsinki, Finland; Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Research, Cancer Registry of Norway, Institute of Population-based Cancer Research, Oslo, Norway; Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Tromsø, The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.

PMID: 30393153
DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2018.10.025

Abstract

Background: Picky eating (PE) is the most common cause of early-life feeding problems. However, the consequences of PE on food intake and weight development in general populations have not been established.

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the associations of PE and food neophobia (FN) with weight status in 5700 Finnish preadolescents. In addition, we described food consumption by PE/FN status.

Material and methods: We utilised the Finnish Health in Teens (Fin-HIT) cohort of 9-12-year-old preadolescents, who were categorised as having PE and FN based on answers from parental questionnaires. Weight was categorised as underweight, normal weight, and overweight/obesity based on body mass index (BMI) according to IOTF age- and sex-specific cut-offs. Eating patterns were obtained with a 16-item food frequency questionnaire. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

Results: The overall prevalence of PE and FN were 34% and 14%, respectively. PE was inversely associated with overweight/obesity (OR = 0.7; 95% CI 0.6-0.8) and led to a higher risk of underweight (OR = 2.0; 95% CI 1.7-2.4), while this was not observed with FN. Compared with preadolescents without PE/FN, those with PE/FN reported consuming unhealthy foods such as pizza, hamburgers/hot dogs, and salty snacks more frequently (p < 0.0038). By the same token, these preadolescents reported consuming healthy foods such as cooked vegetables, fresh vegetables/salad, fruit/berries, milk/soured milk, and dark bread less frequently.

Conclusions: Among Finnish preadolescents, only PE was associated with a higher risk for underweight and inversely with overweight/obesity. PE and FN were accompanied with unhealthy eating patterns. Management of PE in children may be explored as a potential strategy for improving healthy eating and avoiding underweight in preadolescents.

Keywords: BMI; Food intake; Food neophobia; Picky eating; Unhealthy eating; Weight.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Body Mass Index
Child
Female
Finland
Food Fussiness*
Humans
Male
Overweight / epidemiology
Pediatric Obesity / epidemiology
Prospective Studies
Risk Factors
Surveys and Questionnaires
Thinness / epidemiology*