Child diet

Diet during early childhood is hugely important to a child’s overall health and well-

being. The quality and composition of diet during early childhood years has attracted

increasing interest in recent years, especially in the context of rising obesity among

childhood populations. There is very limited data on the food intake patterns of pre-

school children in Ireland. However, numerous studies in Ireland indicate that social

status is a strong determinant of diet quality, with those from less-advantaged

backgrounds at increased risk of having a poor diet (Darmon & Drewnowski, 2008).

13 Previously this was accomplished with a paper ‘show card’s where the answer options are shown to the respondent on a printed card and they call out ‘a’ or ‘b’ etc instead of ‘high blood pressure’ or ‘arthritis’; however, the use of tablets could facilitate a different approach.

Differences in diet quality may partially explain the higher obesity risk among lower

social class groups. Wider research has reported that dietary intake at age 3 has

implications for academic attainment in later years, independent of other covariates

(Feinstein et al., 2008).

Recommendations for Cohort 24 at 3 years:

•Collect information from the primary caregiver only about breastfeeding (if still ongoing at Wave 1), weaning, common foods eaten by the child, parental feeding style and the parent’s assessment of the child’s weight status. These topics have all been explored at past waves of the study.

Child health