Are snacking patterns associated with risk of overweight among Kahnawake schoolchildren?
OBJECTIVE
To understand more specifically how the quality, quantity and frequency of snack food consumption differs in different BMI categories.


METHODS
Four hundred and forty-nine school-aged children (grade 4-6) from a Kanien'kehaka (Mohawk) community provided a 24 h recall and their height and weight in 1994, 1998 and 2002, in three independent cross-sectional samples. Food consumed between two consecutive meals was defined as a snacking occasion. ANOVA and chi2 tests were used to compare food choices between BMI categories according to food quality criteria and food groups in 2006. Logistic regression models were performed to compare results between normal-weight children and those at risk of overweight and between normal-weight and overweight children.


RESULTS
Energy intake from snacks tended to be higher for children at risk of overweight, compared with the other two BMI categories. Food groups with a higher energy density were also consumed more frequently by these children, with larger average portions of cereal bars (P < 0.05). Except for dessert consumption, which was less frequent among overweight children, no other variable distinguished risk of overweight in the two logistic regression models tested.


CONCLUSIONS
Differences detected in snack food intake between normal-weight children and children at risk of overweight could explain in part the relationship between food choices and risk of overweight. Studies of dietary differences in conjunction with body weight would benefit from considering children at risk of overweight and normal-weight children, rather than children with excess weight only.
Mercille
Genevieve
G
Ecole de santé publique, Université de Montréal, PO Box 6128, Downtown Station, Montréal, Québec, Canada, H3C 3J7. genevieve.mercille.1@umontreal.ca
Receveur
Olivier
O
Macaulay
Ann C
AC
D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D053198:Child Nutrition Sciences / Q000193:education; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet / Q000592:standards; D004034:Diet Surveys; D002149:Energy Intake / Q000502:physiology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009751:Nutritional Requirements; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011792:Quebec; D012307:Risk Factors