Dietary Assessment among School-Aged Children in Greece

Dr. Lapousis George, Petsiou Elisavet

Healthy Eating Index developed to assess whether a person's diet is adjusted to the recommended healthy diet guidelines, and as a valid indicator it has been used for the assessment of food consumption. This research aims to evaluate the quality of food consumption to Greek students aged 10-14. The sample consisted of 431 students (204 boys and 227 girls) aged 10-14 years, which were chosen randomly and were not involved in any form of diet and 24 hours food questionnaire was used to recall from memory in the classroom. For the statistical analysis, it was used Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). Results revealed that there was significant difference in age Wilks' L=0,74 F(11,411)=2,63 p<0,00. There were statistically significant differences because of age for the variable grain consumption F(4,421)=4,74 p<0,05, the variable consumption of meat F(4,277)=3,69 p <0,05, the consumption of milk F(4,421)=6,71 p<0,05, the intake of saturated fat F(4,421)=3,28 p<0,05. Regarding gender, there were small but statistically significant differences in sodium consumption F(4,421)=8,08 p<0,00. There were no statistically significant differences for the Healthy Eating Index by gender and the interaction of age with gender. In conclusion, many Greek young and teens consume foods that enhance the development of risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. Both young and teens regardless of their social and economic situation could benefit by increasing the consumption of fruit, vegetables, cereals and choosing foods with little saturated fat and reduced salt intake.