The Influence of Eating at Home on Dietary Diversity and Airway Inflammation in Portuguese School-Aged Children

Francisca de Castro-Mendes, Pedro Cunha, Inês Paciência, João Cavaleiro Rufo, Mariana Farraia, Diana Silva, Patrícia Padrão, Luís Delgado, André Moreira and Pedro Moreira
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Francisca de Castro-Mendes: Serviço de Imunologia Básica e Clínica, Departamento de Patologia, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
Pedro Cunha: Faculdade de Ciências da Nutrição e Alimentação da Universidade do Porto, 4150-177 Porto, Portugal
Inês Paciência: Serviço de Imunologia Básica e Clínica, Departamento de Patologia, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
João Cavaleiro Rufo: EPIUnit—Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, 4050-091 Porto, Portugal
Mariana Farraia: Serviço de Imunologia Básica e Clínica, Departamento de Patologia, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
Diana Silva: Serviço de Imunologia Básica e Clínica, Departamento de Patologia, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
Patrícia Padrão: EPIUnit—Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, 4050-091 Porto, Portugal
Luís Delgado: Serviço de Imunologia Básica e Clínica, Departamento de Patologia, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
André Moreira: Serviço de Imunologia Básica e Clínica, Departamento de Patologia, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
Pedro Moreira: EPIUnit—Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, 4050-091 Porto, Portugal

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 5, 1-15

Abstract: Considering the negative impact of a lack of dietary diversity on children’s nutritional status, we aimed to describe dietary variety according to eating at home frequency and assessed its association with respiratory outcomes in school-aged children. This cross-sectional study included 590 children (49% girls) aged 7 to 12 years from 20 public schools located in city of Porto, Portugal. Daily frequency of eating at home groups were calculated and dietary diversity was calculated using a 10-food group score from a 24 h recall questionnaire. Spirometry and exhaled nitric oxide levels (eNO; <35 and ?35 ppb) were assessed. The comparison of diet diversity according to the groups was performed by ANOVA and ANCOVA. The association between dietary diversity and respiratory outcomes was examined using regression models. In multivariate analysis, children in the highest group of eating at home episodes (?4 occasions) obtained the lowest dietary diversity mean score, while the lowest group (<2) had the highest mean score ( p -value 0.026). After adjustment for confounders, higher diet diversity (?5 food groups) significantly decreased the odds of having an eNO ?35. Diet diversity might decrease the chance of airway inflammation among children. However, having more eating episodes at home could be a barrier to a more diverse diet.

Keywords: airway inflammation; children; diet; dietary quality; dietary diversity; eating at home; eNO (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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