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. 2020 Jan 28;15(1):e0228200.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0228200. eCollection 2020.

From carbohydrates to fat: Trends in food intake among Swedish nutrition students from 2002 to 2017

Maria Bergström  1 , Andreas Håkansson  2 , Anna Blücher  1 , Håkan S Andersson  1   3
Affiliations

From carbohydrates to fat: Trends in food intake among Swedish nutrition students from 2002 to 2017

Maria Bergström et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Earlier studies have implied a change in dietary habits of the Swedish population towards a low carbohydrate, high fat diet. Questions have been raised about the development in recent years and potential health effects. We have investigated the dietary intake of Swedish female students enrolled in a university nutrition course between 2002 and 2017. The students carried out self-reporting of all food and drink intake over one weekday and one weekend day. Intake of macronutrients (E%) and micronutrients were calculated for the whole period while statistical analysis was performed for changes between 2009 and 2017 (729 women). Results showed significant changes in carbohydrate intake (from 47.0 to 41.4 E%) and fat intake (from 31.7 to 37.5 E%). Carbohydrate intake was significantly lower than the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations (45-60 E%). However, daily fiber intake remains high (3.0 g/MJ) in a national context, and intake of vitamin D and folate appears to increase during the period. The results suggest that the observed national transition from carbohydrate to fat intake persists, and that it might be especially evident among individuals interested in food and nutrition. Considering the fiber and micronutrient intake, the change is not necessarily unfavorable for this particular group.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Average distance and geographical distribution of participants.
a: Average distance in km from the Linnaeus university course site in Kalmar (Sweden) to the residence of registered students 2002–2017. b: Geographical distribution of course students registered 2009–2017 in relationship to the total population of the respective county. Population data from Statistics Sweden (21).
Fig 2
Fig 2. Number of participants in the study.
Number of participants in the study, and excluded participants by various criteria.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Energy intake expressed as E% of total energy in the present study and official data from Sweden.
a: Energy intake in the present study (mean E% values with one standard deviation). Alcohol intake varied widely between participants and years and standard deviations are not shown. b: Energy intake (mean E% values) of women in the present study (red open symbols) compared with data from Swedish Board of Agriculture (black, open symbols; including both women and men) and data from the Swedish National Food Agency (black, closed symbols, only women). Alcohol intake was part of the total E% estimation but is not shown.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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