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Maternal nutrition, infants and children

Views of parents in four European countries about the effect of food on the mental performance of primary school children

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 68, pages 32–37 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

Several factors affect the mental performance of children. The importance that parents attribute to food-related determinants, compared with genetic, socio-economic and school environment, was investigated.

Subjects/Methods:

Parents of school children (aged 4–11) were recruited through state primary schools in four European countries. Interviews were conducted in which participants were asked to sort 18 cards representing possible determinants of four elements of mental performance (attention, learning, mood and behaviour) according to perceived strength of effect. Determinants were identified from the literature and grouped in six categories: food-related, school environment, physical, social, psychological and biological. Effects were scored: 0=none; 1=moderate; and 2=strong. Views were compared between and within countries.

Results:

Two hundred parents took part (England: 53; Germany: 45; Hungary: 52; Spain: 50). Differences existed between countries in the proportions reporting university education and being in employment. Taking all countries together, parents consider the food category (mean 1.33) to have a lower impact on a child’s mental performance than physical (activity and sleep, 1.77), psychological (mood and behaviour, 1.69) and school environment (1.57). Social (1.12) and biological (0.91) determinants were ranked lower than food. Of determinants in the food category, parents thought regularity of meals had more influence on mental performance (1.58) than what a child eats now (1.36), food at school (1.35), nutrition as a baby/infant (1.02).

Conclusion:

Scope exists to improve parental awareness of the repercussions of their dietary choices for the mental performance of their children.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the schools that enabled us to undertake this study, and to the parents who took part in the experiment. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments that have enabled us to significantly improve the paper. This study was supported by the European Communities 7th Framework Programme (NUTRIMENTHE Grant agreement number: 212652).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK

    H Gage

  2. Food, Consumer Behaviour and Health Research Centre, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK

    B Egan & M Raats

  3. Department of Mathematics, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK

    P Williams

  4. Department of Paediatrics, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary

    E Györei & T Decsi

  5. Dr von Hauner Children’s Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany

    B Brands & B Koletzko

  6. Department of Paediatrics, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

    J-C López-Robles & C Campoy

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  1. H Gage
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  2. B Egan
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  3. P Williams
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  4. E Györei
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  5. B Brands
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  6. J-C López-Robles
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  7. C Campoy
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  8. B Koletzko
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  9. T Decsi
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  10. M Raats
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Correspondence to H Gage.

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Author Contributions

HG contributed to the analysis and wrote the first draft; BE assisted with writing the paper; BE, EG, BB, J-CL-R collected data and contributed to analysis; HG, BE, MR conceived the study; PW undertook the statistical analysis; all authors contributed to the design and read and approved the final manuscript.

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Gage, H., Egan, B., Williams, P. et al. Views of parents in four European countries about the effect of food on the mental performance of primary school children. Eur J Clin Nutr 68, 32–37 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2013.214

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2013.214

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