Dietary intake among under-, normal- and overweight 9- and 15-year-old Estonian and Swedish schoolchildren.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the differences in macronutrient and food group contribution to total food and energy intakes between Estonian and Swedish under-, normal- and overweight schoolchildren, and to estimate the association between diet and body mass index (BMI).


METHODS
Cross-sectional comparison between Estonian and Swedish children and adolescents of different BMI groups.


METHODS
Twenty-five schools from one region in Estonia and 42 in two regions of central Sweden.


METHODS
In total 2308 participants (1176 from Estonia and 1132 from Sweden), including 1141 children with a mean age of 9.6 +/- 0.5 years and 1167 adolescents with a mean age of 15.5 +/- 0.6 years.


RESULTS
Overweight was more prevalent among younger girls in Sweden (17.0 vs. 8.9%) and underweight among girls of both age groups in Estonia (7.9 vs. 3.5% in younger and 10.5 vs. 5.1% in older age group of girls). Compared with that of normal- and underweight peers, the diet of overweight Estonian children contained more energy as fat (36.8 vs. 31.7%) but less as carbohydrates, and they consumed more milk and meat products. Absolute BMI of Estonian participants was associated positively with energy consumption from eggs and negatively with energy consumption from sweets and sugar. Swedish overweight adolescents tended to consume more energy from protein and milk products. Risk of being overweight was positively associated with total energy intake and energy from fish or meat products. In both countries the association of overweight and biological factors (pubertal maturation, parental BMI) was stronger than with diet.


CONCLUSIONS
The finding that differences in dietary intake between under-, normal- and overweight schoolchildren are country-specific suggests that local dietary habits should be considered in intervention projects addressing overweight.
Villa
Inga
I
Department of Public Health, University of Tartu, Ravila 19, Tartu, Estonia. Inga.Villa@ut.ee
Yngve
Agneta
A
Poortvliet
Eric
E
Grjibovski
Andrej
A
Liiv
Krystiine
K
Sjöström
Michael
M
Harro
Maarike
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002149:Energy Intake / Q000502:physiology*; D004957:Estonia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D050177:Overweight; D012737:Sex Factors; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D013851:Thinness / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology
D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D004041:Dietary Fats; D004044:Dietary Proteins