The influence of dietary diversity on anthropometric status among young children ages 12 and 24 months in Wuhan, China

Abstract

AbstractThe relative research on investigating the association between dietary diversity scores and anthropometric status among young children is few and inconsistent. Since understanding this association is quite essential to give more detailed advice about diet to ensure young children's healthy growth, we sought to determine the association between dietary diversity levels and anthropometric status among young children under 24 months. The study included 1408 mother−child pairs from the Tongji Maternal and Child Health Cohort, whose children range in age from 12 to 24 months. Multivariable logistic regressions were used to examine the effect of dietary diversity on children's anthropometric failure and obesity. All obese children aged 12 and 24 months had low‐medium diverse diets in their first year of life. Risks of anthropometric failure for 12‐month young children consumed low‐medium diverse diets in their first year and 24‐month young children consumed low‐medium diverse diets in their second year are, respectively, 1.27 (odds ratio [OR], 95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.06−1.53]) and 1.19 (OR, 95% CI = [1.02−1.40]) times of those who consumed high diverse diets in corresponding year. The risk of anthropometric failure for 24‐month‐old children who consumed low‐medium diverse diets during their first year of life is 4.70 (OR, 95% CI = [1.62−19.91]) times that of young children who consumed highly diverse diets during their first year of life. Introducing more diverse diets to young children under 24 months of age may be an effective strategy to prevent anthropometric failure and obesity in young children in later life.