title: [A longitudinal study on dietary habits and the primary socialization of these habits in young children].
abstract: The Family Influences on Food Intake study (FIFI), is a longitudinal study on dietary habits of young children and the primary socialization of these habits during childhood and during the transition into adolescence. Special attention is paid to the development, validation and feasibility of instruments measuring as well dependent as independent variables useful for large scale surveys. Parents of preschool children from the first year (+/-3 years of age) of 56 school departments were asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire biennially. Data of 862 children was available for the first measurement (2008). A web based dietary record tool was developed to investigate the relative validity of the Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) used in the study. Two hundred and seventeen parents completed the online tool for three non-consecutive days. The feasibility of the online data collection is investigated and the reported intake is compared with the FFQ estimates. Associations between nutritional knowledge and attitudes of the children's mothers and dietary patterns of the children (FFQ) are investigated as well as relations between parent and child characteristics and fruit and vegetable intake. Additionally, 70 teachers completed a questionnaire on their attitudes towards the school food policy. The teachers' responses are compared with responses of parents from a previous study. Finally, the feasibility of an animated web based fruit and vegetables preferences tool, to be used in the follow up surveys, has been investigated in 4-6 years old (n=139 for fruit and n=135 for vegetables). The findings are summarized in the present paper.
authors.affiliation: Vakgroep Maatschappelijke Gezondheidkunde, Universiteit Gent, De Pintelaan 185-B 9000 Gent.
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Vereecken
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015930:Diet Records; D004034:Diet Surveys / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012931:Social Environment; D012951:Socialization; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014675:Vegetables