Swedish pre-school children eat too much junk food and sucrose

Aim: To analyze dietary intake in healthy 4-year-old children. Methods: Families from three Paediatric Health Care Centres in different socio-economic areas in Goteborg completed 7-day food records and questionnaires about socio-economy. Results: One hundred thirty two/153 completed the study, 49% of parents were university educated. Eighteen percent of children were overweight/obese. Energy intake was high; 67% had sucrose intake exceeding Nordic Nutrition Recommendations (NNR) but 36% had n-3 fatty acid intake < 0.5 energy percent. Significant negative correlations were found between sucrose and fat and between BMI and fat intake. Junk food supplied 24% of energy. Ninety-two percent had low vitamin D intake, 70% low iron and 21% low calcium intake. Gruel, which was consumed by 28%, had a positive impact on micronutrient intake. Child care and mother's origin seemed to influence dietary intake. Conclusion: In 4-year olds from well-educated urban families, 18% was overweight/obese. Total energy intake was above present NNR but lower than 20 years ago, when overweight was rare. Fat energy intake was negatively associated with BMI, and low n-3 fatty acid intake was associated with higher body weight. In several aspects dietary intake was not optimal in the children.