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. 2015 Oct;73 Suppl 3(Suppl 3):207-30.
doi: 10.1093/nutrit/nuv055.

Dietary patterns in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children

Pauline M Emmett  1 , Louise R Jones  2 , Kate Northstone  2
Affiliations

Dietary patterns in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children

Pauline M Emmett et al. Nutr Rev. 2015 Oct.

Abstract

Publications from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children that used empirically derived dietary patterns were reviewed. The relationships of dietary patterns with socioeconomic background and childhood development were examined. Diet was assessed using food frequency questionnaires and food records. Three statistical methods were used: principal components analysis, cluster analysis, and reduced rank regression. Throughout childhood, children and parents have similar dietary patterns. The "health-conscious" and "traditional" patterns were associated with high intakes of fruits and/or vegetables and better nutrient profiles than the "processed" patterns. There was evidence of tracking in childhood diet, with the "health-conscious" patterns tracking most strongly, followed by the "processed" pattern. An "energy-dense, low-fiber, high-fat" dietary pattern was extracted using reduced rank regression; high scores on this pattern were associated with increasing adiposity. Maternal education was a strong determinant of pattern score or cluster membership; low educational attainment was associated with higher scores on processed, energy-dense patterns in both parents and children. The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children has provided unique insights into the value of empirically derived dietary patterns and has demonstrated that they are a useful tool in nutritional epidemiology.

Keywords: ALSPAC; children; cluster analysis; dietary patterns; fruit and vegetables; obesity; pregnancy; principal components analysis; reduced rank regression.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Sequence index plot illustrating changes in cluster membership over time. Reproduced from Northstone et al. (2012) with permission
Figure 2
Figure 2
Food group factor loadings from reduced rank regression analysis for the “energy-dense, high-fat, low-fiber” dietary pattern at ages 7, 10, and 13 years using food records from the ALSPAC cohort. Reproduced from Ambrosini et al. (2012) with permission.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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