title: An international comparison of dietary patterns in 9-11-year-old children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Dietary pattern is defined as a combination of foods and drinks and the frequency of consumption within a population. Dietary patterns are changing on a global level, which may be linked to an increased incidence of chronic diseases. The aim of this study was to identify and compare the dietary patterns among 9-11-year-old children living in urban regions in different parts of the world.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were 7199 children (54% girls), aged 9-11 years, from 12 countries situated in all major world regions. Food consumption was assessed using a 23-item Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). To identify dietary patterns, principal components analyses (PCA) were carried out using weekly portions as input variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both site-specific and pooled PCA resulted in two strong components. Component 1 ('unhealthy diet pattern') included fast foods, ice cream, fried food, French fries, potato chips, cakes and sugar-sweetened sodas with >0.6 loadings. The loadings for component 2 ('healthy diet pattern') were slightly weaker with only dark-green vegetables, orange vegetables, vegetables in general, and fruits and berries reaching a >0.6 loading. The site-specific diet pattern scores had very strong correlations with the pattern scores from the pooled data: r=0.82 and 0.94 for components 1 and 2, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that the same 'healthier' and 'unhealthier' foods tend to be consumed in similar combinations among 9-11-year-old children in different countries, despite variation in food culture, geographical location, ethnic background and economic development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki , Helsinki, Finland.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki , Helsinki, Finland.
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authors.lastname: Vepsäläinen
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki , Helsinki, Finland.
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authors.lastname: Saloheimo
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Department of Public Health, Universidad de los Andes , Bogota, Colombia.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, CeiBA Complex Systems Research Center, Universidad de los Andes , Bogotá, Colombia.
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authors.affiliation: Pennington Biomedical Research Center , Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
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authors.affiliation: Pennington Biomedical Research Center , Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
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authors.affiliation: Pennington Biomedical Research Center , Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
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authors.affiliation: Pennington Biomedical Research Center , Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
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authors.affiliation: St Johns Research Institute , Bangalore, India.
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authors.affiliation: St Johns Research Institute , Bangalore, India.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Division of Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, University of Cape Town , Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: E V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Lambert
authors.affiliation: Alliance for Research in Exercise Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia , Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
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authors.lastname: Maher
authors.affiliation: CIFI2D, Faculdade de Desporto, University of Porto , Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Maia
authors.affiliation: Centro de Estudos do Laboratório de Aptidão Física de São Caetano do Sul , Sao Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Matsudo
authors.affiliation: Alliance for Research in Exercise Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia , Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
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authors.lastname: Olds
authors.affiliation: Department of Recreation Management and Exercise Science, Kenyatta University , Nairobi, Kenya.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Department of Public Health, Universidad de los Andes , Bogota, Colombia.
authors.forename: O L
authors.initials: OL
authors.lastname: Sarmiento
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, University of Bath , Bath, UK.
authors.forename: M
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authors.lastname: Standage
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute , Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Tremblay
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authors.forename: C
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authors.lastname: Tudor-Locke
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Women's and Children's Health Center , Tianjin, China.
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authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki , Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: M
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authors.lastname: Fogelholm