How do children's eating patterns and food choices change over time? Results from a cohort study

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to investigate the change in eating patterns and food choices in a cohort of students as they moved from the th ird to the eighth grade. Design. Dietary behaviors and food choices were abstracted from 24-hour rec alls and compared across grade levels. Setting. The setting for the study was elementary and junior high schools. Subjects. The subjects were a cohort of 291 students from Minnesota. Measures. Individual 24-hour dietary recalls from a cohort of students were collected in the third, fifth and eighth grades. Results. As students moved from elementary to junior high and middle school , their consumption of breakfast, fruits, vegetables, and milk decreased. S oft drink consumption increased. In the third grade, nearly 99% of the coho rt reported eating breakfast; by the eighth grade, 85% reported eating brea kfast. Fruit consumption fell by 41% between the third and the eighth grade s while vegetable consumption fell by 25%. The proportion of beverage comin g from soft drinks more than tripled between the third and the eighth grade s with concomitant reductions in milk and fruit juice consumption. Conclusions. Family, school, and community-wide efforts are needed to promo te healthful eating patterns and food choices among adolescents. Our resear ch indicates that nutrition education is needed in the elementary and middl e school years. In addition, we need to work on improving teens' social and physical environments to encourage and facilitate their choice of healthy foods.