Childhood Dietary Patterns And Body Composition At Age 6 Years: The Children Of Screening For Pregnancy Endpoints (Scope) Study

Dietary patterns describe the combination of foods and beverages in a diet and the frequency of habitual consumption. Better understanding of childhood dietary patterns and antenatal influences could inform intervention strategies to prevent childhood obesity. We derived empirical dietary patterns in 1142 children (average age 6 center dot 0 (sd0 center dot 2) years) in New Zealand, whose mothers had participated in the Screening for Pregnancy Endpoints (SCOPE) cohort study and explored associations with measures of body composition. Participants (Children of SCOPE) had their diet assessed by FFQ, and dietary patterns were extracted using factor analysis. Three distinct dietary patterns were identified: 'Healthy', 'Traditional' and 'Junk'. Associations between dietary patterns and measures of childhood body composition (waist, hip, arm circumferences, BMI, bioelectrical impedance analysis-derived body fat % and sum of skinfold thicknesses (SST)) were assessed by linear regression, with adjustment for maternal influences. Children who had higher 'Junk' dietary pattern scores had 0 center dot 24 (sd0 center dot 08; 95 % CI 0 center dot 04, 0 center dot 13) cm greater arm and 0 center dot 44 (sd0 center dot 05; 95 % CI 0 center dot 01, 0 center dot 10) cm greater hip circumferences and 1 center dot 13 (sd0 center dot 07; 95 % CI 0 center dot 03, 0 center dot 12) cm greater SST and were more likely to be obese (OR 1 center dot 74; 95 % CI 1 center dot 07, 2 center dot 82); those with higher 'Healthy' pattern scores were less likely to be obese (OR 0 center dot 62; 95 % CI 0 center dot 39, 1 center dot 00). In a large mother-child cohort, a dietary pattern characterised by high-sugar and -fat foods was associated with greater adiposity and obesity risk in children aged 6 years, while a 'Healthy' dietary pattern offered some protection against obesity. Targeting unhealthy dietary patterns could inform public health strategies to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity.