title: Diet in 1-year-old farm and control children and allergy development: results from the FARMFLORA birth cohort.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A farming environment confers strong protection against allergy development. We have previously shown that farming mothers consume more full-fat dairy than control mothers, who instead consume more low-fat dairy, margarine, and oils; margarine and oil intake was associated with increased risk of allergy development in their children.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aims of this study were to investigate the differences in diet between children in farming and control families at 1 year of age, to investigate the relation between the diets of the mothers and their children, and to relate the children's diet to allergy development.
  
  
  METHODS
  The diet of 1-year-old children from dairy farming families (n=28) and from control families in the same rural area (n=37) was assessed by 24-h dietary recalls, followed by 24-h food diaries. Allergy was diagnosed by pediatricians at 3 years of age using strict predefined criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Farm children had a higher intake of farm milk, whole cream, cholesterol, saturated fat, and fat in total and tended to eat more butter, while controls consumed more carbohydrates and poultry and tended to eat more margarine. Farm children also had higher intakes of homemade porridge/gruel, oily fish, and iodine. The intake of butter and whole milk in children and mothers correlated significantly in farm families but not in controls. A weak negative association was found between seafood intake and allergy development, while allergy was positively associated with the intake of pork as well as zinc in the control group; these intakes also correlated with each other.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Consistent with mothers in farming families, the children consumed more full-fat dairy and saturated fat than did controls, but this could not be linked to the low risk of allergy in the farming group. Seafood intake might protect against allergy development, in accordance with earlier findings.
authors.affiliation: Division of Food and Nutrition Science, Department of Biology and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden; karin.jonsson@chalmers.se.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jonsson
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: My
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Green
authors.affiliation: Division of Food and Nutrition Science, Department of Biology and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Malin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barman
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Nutrition, and Sport Science, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Agneta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sjöberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Hilde K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Brekke
authors.affiliation: Clinical Bacteriology Section, Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Agnes E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Wold
authors.affiliation: Division of Food and Nutrition Science, Department of Biology and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ann-Sofie
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Sandberg
keywords: atopy; dairy farm; dietary patterns; fatty acids; infants