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. 2020 Aug 17;12(8):2481.
doi: 10.3390/nu12082481.

A Snapshot of European Children's Eating Habits: Results from the Fourth Round of the WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI)

Julianne Williams  1 , Marta Buoncristiano  1 , Paola Nardone  2 , Ana Isabel Rito  3 , Angela Spinelli  2 , Tatjana Hejgaard  4 , Lene Kierkegaard  5 , Eha Nurk  6 , Marie Kunešová  7 , Sanja Musić Milanović  8 , Marta García-Solano  9 , Enrique Gutiérrez-González  9 , Lacramioara Aurelia Brinduse  10 , Alexandra Cucu  10 , Anna Fijałkowska  11 , Victoria Farrugia Sant'Angelo  12 , Shynar Abdrakhmanova  13 , Iveta Pudule  14 , Vesselka Duleva  15 , Nazan Yardim  16 , Andrea Gualtieri  17 , Mirjam Heinen  18 , Silvia Bel-Serrat  18 , Zhamyla Usupova  19 , Valentina Peterkova  20 , Lela Shengelia  21 , Jolanda Hyska  22 , Maya Tanrygulyyeva  23 , Ausra Petrauskiene  24 , Sanavbar Rakhmatullaeva  25 , Enisa Kujundzic  26 , Sergej M Ostojic  27 , Daniel Weghuber  28 , Marina Melkumova  29 , Igor Spiroski  30 , Gregor Starc  31 , Harry Rutter  32 , Giulia Rathmes  1 , Anne Charlotte Bunge  1 , Ivo Rakovac  1 , Khadichamo Boymatova  33 , Martin Weber  34 , João Breda  1
Affiliations

A Snapshot of European Children's Eating Habits: Results from the Fourth Round of the WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI)

Julianne Williams et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Consuming a healthy diet in childhood helps to protect against malnutrition and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). This cross-sectional study described the diets of 132,489 children aged six to nine years from 23 countries participating in round four (2015-2017) of the WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI). Children's parents or caregivers were asked to complete a questionnaire that contained indicators of energy-balance-related behaviors (including diet). For each country, we calculated the percentage of children who consumed breakfast, fruit, vegetables, sweet snacks or soft drinks "every day", "most days (four to six days per week)", "some days (one to three days per week)", or "never or less than once a week". We reported these results stratified by country, sex, and region. On a daily basis, most children (78.5%) consumed breakfast, fewer than half (42.5%) consumed fruit, fewer than a quarter (22.6%) consumed fresh vegetables, and around one in ten consumed sweet snacks or soft drinks (10.3% and 9.4%, respectively); however, there were large between-country differences. This paper highlights an urgent need to create healthier food and drink environments, reinforce health systems to promote healthy diets, and continue to support child nutrition and obesity surveillance.

Keywords: child; children; fruit; health; noncommunicable diseases; nutrition; obesity; soft drinks; surveillance; vegetables.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Frequency of consuming breakfast, fresh fruit, and vegetables among boys and girls by country a. COSI/WHO Europe round 4 (2015–2017). a Pooled values were estimated, including the following age groups/countries: 7-year-olds from Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, Portugal, Spain, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan; 8-year-olds from Albania, Croatia, Poland, and Romania; and 9-year-olds from Kazakhstan.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Frequency of consuming savory snacks, sweet snacks, and soft drinks among boys and girls by country a. COSI/WHO Europe round 4 (2015–2017). a Pooled values were estimated, including the following age groups/countries: 7-year-olds from Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, Portugal, Spain, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan; 8-year-olds from Albania, Croatia, Poland, and Romania; and 9-year-olds from Kazakhstan.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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