Sosioøkonomisk status og barns kosthold Er det forskjell i måltidsmønster og utvalgte matvaner blant 2- åringer i forhold til foreldrenes sosioøkonomiske status?

Abstract

Background: Research shows that the diet has a significant impact on the health and growth during the childhood and may have an impact on the health later in life. It also shows that health and living conditions of children have a close relationship with social inequalities and the socioeconomic conditions of the family. Purpose: The study was made to detect the differences between eating habits among 2- year old children compared to their parent’s socioeconomic status. Method: Parents (N=464) with children born in 2012 from 309 kindergartens in Aust- and Vest- Agder answered a questionnaire about their children`s diet and their own socioeconomic status. The children`s eating habit was compared to both parents education and the responding parent`s profession. The Chi-square test was used to find significant difference between the lower and higher socioeconomic groups. Results: Significant differences were found between socioeconomic indicators and children`s meal pattern and eating habits. The results show mainly that there are a higher proportion of children of parents with high socioeconomic status who often eat healthy foods compared to children of parents with low socioeconomic status. Conclusion: Parental education and socioeconomic status appear to be factors that are important in relation to children`s meal pattern and eating habits. These findings show that measures should be done at an early age and should be mainly focused on parents with low socioeconomic status in order to get the greatest and fastest possible effect.