Dietary Impact: Results of FITS in US and MING in China

Most literature on the topic of the double burden of under and over nutrition focuses on under and overweight in low and middle income countries, and does not often examine, in detail, the dietary patterns which contribute to these issues and must be understood in order to be adequately addressed. The current study uses two unique data sets to demonstrate the different dietary patterns of young children in US and China. The Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study (FITS) was conducted in the US in 2008, and collected 24 hour recall data for a large sample of 3200 children ages 0-48 months, with a second day collected for 25% of the sample in order to adjust for usual nutrient intakes.The Maternal and Infant Nutrition and Growth (MING) Study was conducted in China in 2012, and collected one 24 hour recall for a large sample of 2485 children 0-36 months from 8 major cities in China. While nutrient intakes are generally adequate and the prevalence of frank under nutrition is relatively low in the US, poor diet quality and over nutrition are far more prevalent issues. Examination of dietary patterns and food sources of energy show dietary patterns leading to these issues include the inadequate consumption of fruits, vegetables and healthy oils and high consumption of sweetened beverages and sweet foods. In China, there are several nutrients under consumed as well as a few over consumed, including calories.Examination of dietary patterns and food sources of energy show that dietary variety is low and rice becomes a major source of energy in the first year and the number one source of energy by age 24 months. In both US and China, it seems that high consumption of low nutrient dense foods is creating the dietary imbalances. In China, foods such as rice and noodles seem to be displacing higher nutrient dense foods such as milk, creating key nutrient gaps as well as overconsumption of calories by some. In US, the high consumption of sweets appears to be consumed in addition to nutrient dense foods such as milks, but displacing fruits and vegetables. Such specific dietary patterns must be understood in each country so that effective approaches to amelioration can be developed.