Picky eating - A risk factor for underweight in Finnish preadolescents

Abstract

<i>Background</i> - Picky eating (PE) is the most common cause of early-life feeding problems. However, the consequences of PE on food intake and weight development in general populations have not been established.<p><p>

<i>Objectives</i> - This study aims to investigate the associations of PE and food neophobia (FN) with weight status in 5700 Finnish preadolescents. In addition, we described food consumption by PE/FN status.<p><p>

<i>Material and methods</i> - We utilised the Finnish Health in Teens (Fin-HIT) cohort of 9–12-year-old preadolescents, who were categorised as having PE and FN based on answers from parental questionnaires. Weight was categorised as underweight, normal weight, and overweight/obesity based on body mass index (BMI) according to IOTF age- and sex-specific cut-offs. Eating patterns were obtained with a 16-item food frequency questionnaire. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).<p><p>

<i>Results</i> - The overall prevalence of PE and FN were 34% and 14%, respectively. PE was inversely associated with overweight/obesity (OR = 0.7; 95% CI 0.6–0.8) and led to a higher risk of underweight (OR = 2.0; 95% CI 1.7–2.4), while this was not observed with FN. Compared with preadolescents without PE/FN, those with PE/FN reported consuming unhealthy foods such as pizza, hamburgers/hot dogs, and salty snacks more frequently (p < 0.0038). By the same token, these preadolescents reported consuming healthy foods such as cooked vegetables, fresh vegetables/salad, fruit/berries, milk/soured milk, and dark bread less frequently.<p><p>

<i>Conclusions</i> - Among Finnish preadolescents, only PE was associated with a higher risk for underweight and inversely with overweight/obesity. PE and FN were accompanied with unhealthy eating patterns. Management of PE in children may be explored as a potential strategy for improving healthy eating and avoiding underweight in preadolescents.