THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN PARENTAL SMOKING AND THE DIET QUALITY OF LOW-INCOME CHILDREN

Objective. To assess the association between parental smoking and the diet quality of children residing in low-income households in the Unit ed States. Methods. Data from 515 low-income children (less than or eq ual to 185% of the poverty line), ages 2 to 17, who participated in th e 1989 and 1990 United States Department of Agriculture Continuing Sur vey of Food Intakes of Individuals were examined. Diet quality was ass essed by examining the average daily amount of nutrients consumed per 1000 kcal for protein, fiber, and 14 essential vitamins and minerals a s well as total energy, percent of energy from total fat and saturated fat, and cholesterol and sodium intakes using the a-day average of on e 24-hour recall and 2 days of diet records. Parental smoking was cate gorized as four levels (nonsmoker; 1 to 10, 11 to 20, and more than 20 ) on the basis of the average number of cigarettes smoked per day by t he sample child's parents. Analysis of covariance examined differences in the children's nutrient intake among the four smoking categories w hile controlling for race, mother's age and occupation, child age, and sex. Results. Low-income children with parents who smoked (n = 235) w ere more likely to be white (P <.001), had younger mothers (P <.05), a nd were more likely to have mothers employed in blue-collar occupation s (P <.001) than children whose parents were nonsmokers (n = 280). Chi ldren whose parents smoked 11 or more cigarettes per day had lower vit amin A intakes and higher total energy and sodium intakes than childre n whose parents smoked ten or fewer cigarettes per day. Children whose parents smoked more than 20 cigarettes per day had a higher percentag e of energy from saturated fat, and children whose parents smoked 11 t o 20 cigarettes per day had the highest cholesterol intakes in compari son with the rest of the sample. Parental smoking was also related to total fiber intake per 1000 kcal, with children of smokers having lowe r fiber intakes than children of nonsmokers. Conclusions. On average, low-income children of smokers had a poorer diet quality than low-inco me children of nonsmokers, thus increasing their future risk of chroni c disease.