The impact of social factors on the nutrition of German children and adolescents

Peer-reviewed | Manuscript received: November 28, 2016 | Revision accepted: March 17, 2017

They say you are what you eat, but do you eat what you are?

Introduction

Diet-related and partially diet-related chronic degenerative diseases are causing an increasing burden on the social welfare system and on individual quality of life [1–3]. There is also health inequality in this country [3–5]. In order to develop effective political approaches to help get people on the right track with nutrition at an early stage, it is essential to know the social factors that influence nutritional behavior, especially in children [6–9]. The socio-epidemiological survey studies conducted by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) within the framework of health monitoring have now paved the way for addressing fundamental deficiencies in the currently available analysis of the situation in Germany as a whole [10–12].

Research question

In attempting to answer the question of whether you eat what you are, this article will primarily focus on identifying the main social factors that influence the nutritional behavior of children and adolescents.

Abstract

According to the KiGGS (The German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents) baseline study of 2003–2006, the diet of most German boys and girls falls far short of the recommendations for an optimized mixed diet (optimiX^®). On average, in terms of food consumption as a proportion of total energy intake, this group consumes only three quarters of the recommended amount of positively encouraged foods, and they over-consume “tolerated” food groups, consuming two and a half times the recommended amount. The triple- A model identifies neutral factors (especially available income), protective factors (especially high level of educational attainment), and risk factors (especially a migration background) affecting nutritional behavior. The results highlight the importance of setting-oriented promotion of healthy habits on the one hand, and the need for further research into modeling and analysis strategies on the other hand.

Keywords: nutritional behavior research, children and adolescents, nutrition-related health inequality, triple-A model, KiGGS, German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents, optimiX^®

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