title: Impact of parental education and income inequality on children's food intake.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyse the association between socio-economic indicators and diet among 2-year-old children, by assessing the independent contribution of parental education and equivalent income to food intake.
  
  
  METHODS
  The analysis was based on data from a prospective birth cohort study. Information on diet was obtained using a semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire. Low and high intake of food was defined according to the lowest and the highest quintile of food consumption frequency, respectively.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four German cities (Munich, Leipzig, Wesel, Bad Honnef), 1999-2001. Subjects Subjects were 2637 children at the age of 2 years, whose parents completed questionnaires gathering information on lifestyle factors, including parental socio-economic status, household consumption frequencies and children's diet.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both low parental education and low equivalent income were associated with a low intake of fresh fruit, cooked vegetables and olive oil, and a high intake of canned vegetables or fruit, margarine, mayonnaise and processed salad dressing in children. Children with a low intake of milk and cream, and a high intake of hardened vegetable fat, more likely had parents with lower education. Low butter intake was associated with low equivalent income only.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings may be helpful for future intervention programmes with more targeted policies aiming at an improvement of children's diets.
authors.affiliation: GSF - National Research Centre for Environment and Health, Institute of Epidemiology, Ingolstaedter Landstrasse 1, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sausenthaler
authors.forename: Iris
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kompauer
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mielck
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Borte
authors.forename: Olf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Herbarth
authors.forename: Beate
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schaaf
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: von Berg
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heinrich
mesh_terms: D053198:Child Nutrition Sciences / Q000193:education*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004032:Diet / Q000592:standards; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D011203:Poverty; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires