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The effect of maternal smoking status, educational level and age on food and nutrient intakes in preschool children: results from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children

Abstract

Objective: Studies in adults have demonstrated that smoking status is associated with dietary quality, with smokers tending to have diets that conform less closely to guidelines on healthy eating than nonsmokers. However, there is very little information on the relation between children's dietary quality and parental smoking status. The objective of this study was to investigate the relation between maternal smoking status and nutrient intake in preschool children, allowing for the possible confounding effects of maternal educational level and age at delivery.

Subjects: In total, 993 children aged 18 months participating in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.

Methods: Diet was assessed by a 3-day food record. Maternal smoking status and educational level and age at delivery were assessed by questionnaire.

Results: In multivariate analysis, the children of smokers had significantly higher intakes of monounsaturated fatty acids and starch, and lower intakes of nonstarch polysaccharides (NSP). They were also less likely to have eaten poultry, buns, cakes and puddings, wholemeal bread and fruit, and more likely to have drunk sugar-sweetened soft drinks. Intakes of NSP and most vitamins and minerals increased significantly with increasing maternal education. Children of more highly educated mothers were less likely to have eaten chocolate, crisps and white bread, and more likely to have consumed wholemeal bread, fruit and fruit juice.

Conclusions: The children of nonsmokers and more highly educated mothers consumed a diet that conformed more closely to current guidelines on healthy eating. These dietary differences may contribute to the excess of ill-health observed in the children of smokers and of less-educated mothers.

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Acknowledgements

We are extremely grateful to the Children in Focus parents and children who have taken part in this study, and to the midwives for their cooperation, and help in recruiting the mothers during pregnancy. We acknowledge the dedicated work of the ALSPAC study team; this includes interviewers, computer technicians, clerical workers, research scientists, volunteers and managers. We would particularly like to thank the staff of the Children in Focus research clinics. We acknowledge the helpful comments of Andrea Sherriff and Kate Northstone. The ALSPAC study is part of the WHO initiated European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood. The Children in Focus substudy is, however, unique to ALSPAC. The ALSPAC study could not have taken place without the financial support of the University of Bristol, the MRC, the Wellcome Trust, the Department of the Environment, MAFF, various medical charities and commercial companies.

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Guarantor: I Rogers.

Contributors: IR was primarily responsible for data preparation and analysis and the design of the study. Both authors were responsible for data collection, and both collaborated closely in preparing the manuscript.

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Correspondence to I Rogers.

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Rogers, I., Emmett, P. & and the ALSPAC Study Team. The effect of maternal smoking status, educational level and age on food and nutrient intakes in preschool children: results from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Eur J Clin Nutr 57, 854–864 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601619

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