Girls feeling good at school: School gender environment, internalization and awareness of socio-cultural attitudes associations with self-esteem in adolescent girls.

As society continues to advocate an unrealistically thin body shape, awareness and internalization of appearance and its consequent impact upon self-esteem has become increasingly of concern, particularly in adolescent girls. School gender environment may influence these factors, but remains largely unexplored. This study aimed to assess differences between two different school environments in appearance attitudes, social influences and associations with self-esteem. Two hundred and twelve girls (M = 13.8 years) attending either a single-sex or co-educational school completed measures on socio-cultural attitudes towards appearance, social support and self-esteem. Though marginal differences between school environments were found, significantly higher internalization was reported among girls at the co-educational school. School environment moderated relations between internalization and self-esteem such that girls in co-educational environments had poorer self-esteem stemming from greater internalization. Thus, in a single-sex school environment, protective factors may attenuate negative associations between socio-cultural attitudes towards appearance and self-esteem in adolescent girls.

Dietary patterns in UK adolescents obtained from a dual-source FFQ and their associations with socio-economic position, nutrient intake and modes of eating.

OBJECTIVE: To derive dietary patterns using principal components analysis from separate FFQ completed by mothers and their teenagers and to assess associations with nutrient intakes and sociodemographic variables. DESIGN: Two distinct FFQ were completed by 13-year-olds and their mothers, with some overlap in the foods covered. A combined data set was obtained. SETTING: Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), Bristol, UK. SUBJECTS: Teenagers (n 5334) with adequate dietary data. RESULTS: Four patterns were obtained using principal components analysis: a 'Traditional/health-conscious' pattern, a 'Processed' pattern, a 'Snacks/sugared drinks' pattern and a 'Vegetarian' pattern. The 'Traditional/health-conscious' pattern was the most nutrient-rich, having high positive correlations with many nutrients. The 'Processed' and 'Snacks/sugared drinks' patterns showed little association with important nutrients but were positively associated with energy, fats and sugars. There were clear gender and sociodemographic differences across the patterns. Lower scores were seen on the 'Traditional/health conscious' and 'Vegetarian' patterns in males and in those with younger and less educated mothers. Higher scores were seen on the 'Traditional/health-conscious' and 'Vegetarian' patterns in girls and in those whose mothers had higher levels of education. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to establish healthy eating patterns by the teenage years. However, this is a time when it is difficult to accurately establish dietary intake from a single source, since teenagers consume increasing amounts of foods outside the home. Further dietary pattern studies should focus on teenagers and the source of dietary data collection merits consideration.

Is maternal education level associated with diet in 10-year-old children?

OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations between maternal education level and diet in 10-year-old children. DESIGN: Three-day diet diaries (child completed with parental help) were collected. Height and weight were measured in research clinics. Maternal education level was derived from a questionnaire completed during pregnancy and classified into low, medium or high. One-way ANOVA was undertaken to compare maternal education groups for nutrient intakes and the Kruskal-Wallis test used for food consumption. SETTING: Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), Bristol, UK. SUBJECTS: Children (n 7474) who provided dietary data at age 10 years. RESULTS: A large proportion (60 %) of the sample was classified as plausible reporters, with under-reporting accounting for 36 %. No clear differences were found for intakes of energy or macronutrients between maternal education groups for plausible reporters. However, there were marked differences in micronutrient intakes especially for vitamin C, retinol equivalents and folate, highlighting lower diet quality with lower maternal education level. Intakes of fruit and vegetables showed a positive gradient with increasing maternal education (57 % v. 79 % consumed fresh fruit in low and high educational groups, respectively). A trend towards higher intake in the lower educated group was shown for less healthy foods (meat pies P < 0·001; sausages, burgers and kebabs P < 0·001). CONCLUSIONS: The quality of children's diet at 10 years was related to maternal education level. Lower maternal education was associated with less healthy food choices that could be detrimental to health. Further research is needed to establish if these associations can be explained by other socio-economic factors.

Sources of vitamin A in the diets of pre-school children in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC).

Vitamin A is essential for growth and development. We investigated whether high consumption of energy-dense nutrient-poor foods in the diets of pre-school children is detrimental to diet quality with respect to vitamin A. Data were collected from 755 children at 18-months and 3½-years, from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, using 3-day unweighed dietary records completed by parents in 1994 and 1996, respectively. Energy, carotene and retinol intakes were calculated. The quality of the diet declined from 18-months to 3½-years with respect to vitamin A. Preformed retinol intakes decreased by -54 µg/day on average (p = 0.003). Carotene intakes were similar at each age although there was a 23% increase in energy intake by 3½-years. Longitudinally those in the highest quartile of intake at 18-months were twice as likely to remain in the highest quartile at 3½-years for retinol (OR 2.21 (95% CI 1.48-3.28)) and carotene (OR 1.66 (95% CI 1.11-2.50)) than to change quartiles. Nutrient-rich core foods provided decreasing amounts of carotene and preformed retinol over time (both p < 0.001). Vegetables and milk contributed the highest proportion of carotene at both ages, but milk's contribution decreased over time. Milk and liver were the largest sources of retinol. Nutrient-poor foods provided an increased proportion of energy (p < 0.001) with low proportions of both nutrients; however fat spreads made an important contribution. It is recommended that pre-school children should take vitamin supplements; only 19% at 18-months did this, falling to 11% at 3½-years. Care should be taken to choose nutrient-rich foods and avoid energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods when feeding pre-school children.