• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: Takeaway meal consumption and risk markers for coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity in children aged 9–10 years: a cross-sectional study
  • Contributor: Donin, Angela S; Nightingale, Claire M; Owen, Chris G; Rudnicka, Alicja R; Cook, Derek G; Whincup, Peter H
  • imprint: BMJ, 2018
  • Published in: Archives of Disease in Childhood
  • Language: English
  • DOI: 10.1136/archdischild-2017-312981
  • ISSN: 0003-9888; 1468-2044
  • Keywords: Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health
  • Origination:
  • Footnote:
  • Description: <jats:sec><jats:title>Objective</jats:title><jats:p>To investigate associations between takeaway meal consumption and risk markers for coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity risk markers in children.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Design</jats:title><jats:p>A cross-sectional, school-based observational study.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Setting</jats:title><jats:p>85 primary schools across London, Birmingham and Leicester.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Participants</jats:title><jats:p>1948 UK primary school children in year 5, aged 9–10 years.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Main outcome measures</jats:title><jats:p>Children reported their frequency of takeaway meal consumption, completed a 24-hour dietary recall, had physical measurements and provided a fasting blood sample.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>Among 1948 participants with complete data, 499 (26%) never/hardly ever consumed a takeaway meal, 894 (46%) did so &lt;1/week and 555 (28%) did ≥1/week. In models adjusted for age, sex, month, school, ethnicity and socioeconomic status, more frequent takeaway meal consumption was associated with higher dietary intakes of energy, fat % energy and saturated fat % energy and higher energy density (all P trend &lt;0.001) and lower starch, protein and micronutrient intakes (all P trend &lt;0.05). A higher frequency of takeaway meal consumption was associated with higher serum total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (P trend=0.04, 0.01, respectively); children eating a takeaway meal ≥1/week had total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol 0.09 mmol/L (95% CI 0.01 to 0.18) and 0.10 mmol/L (95% CI 0.02 to 0.18) higher respectively than children never/hardly ever eating a takeaway meal; their fat mass index was also higher.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title><jats:p>More frequent takeaway meal consumption in children was associated with unhealthy dietary nutrient intake patterns and potentially with adverse longer term consequences for obesity and coronary heart disease risk.</jats:p></jats:sec>