The associations between maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index or gestational weight change during pregnancy and body mass index of the child at 3 years of age.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the associations between maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) or gestational weight change (GWC) during pregnancy and offspring BMI at 3 years of age, while taking several pre-and postnatal factors into account. DESIGN: The Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study is a population-based pregnancy cohort study of women recruited from all geographical areas of Norway. SUBJECTS: The study includes 31 169 women enrolled between 2000 and 2009 through a postal invitation sent to women at 17-18 weeks of gestation. Data collected from 5898 of the fathers were included. MAIN OUTCOME MESURES: Offspring BMI at 3 years was the main outcome measured in this study. RESULTS: Mean maternal pre-pregnancy BMI was 24.0 kg m(-2) (s.d. 4.1), mean GWC in the first 30 weeks of gestation was 9.0 kg (s.d. 4.1) and mean offspring BMI at 3 years of age was 16.1 kg m(-2) (s.d. 1.5). Both maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and GWC were positively associated with mean offspring BMI at 3 years of age. Pre-pregnancy BMI and GWC also interacted, and the strength of the interaction between these two factors was strongly associated with the increase in offspring BMI among mothers who gained the most weight during pregnancy and had the highest pre-pregnancy BMI. Our findings show that results could be biased by not including pre-pregnant paternal BMI. CONCLUSION(S): This large population-based study showed that both maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and GWC were positively associated with mean offspring BMI at 3 years of age.

From micronutrient recommendations to policy: consumer and stakeholder involvement.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: To achieve the nutritional goals stipulated by micronutrient recommendations, greater attention must be paid to the behavioural routes to such nutritional outcomes. Coopting stakeholders and consumers into decisions regarding micronutrient recommendations is an important step towards achieving a greater link between micronutrient recommendations and behaviour. This study aims to examine the rationale and processes associated with consumer and stakeholder involvement in setting micronutrient recommendations across Europe. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Using the contacts established through the Eurreca network of excellence (commissioned by the European Commission), the research involved in-depth desk research of key documents and communication channels linked to the process of setting micronutrient recommendations across seven countries: the United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Spain, the Czech Republic and Hungary. RESULTS: Stakeholder engagement is recognized by most countries as an important aspect of the process of setting micronutrient recommendations and their translation into policy, although there is notable variation in the extent to which this has been achieved across the seven countries and its effect on final decisions. Stakeholders were not involved at the outset of the process ('framing' of the problem) in any of the countries, and there was no evidence of consumer involvement and open public fora. CONCLUSIONS: Some of the key explanatory factors for diversity in the degree of involvement include historical sociopolitical context; the extent to which food and nutrition are key policy agenda; and the relative power of stakeholders in influencing food and nutrition policy.

Reducing added sugar intake in Norway by replacing sugar sweetened beverages with beverages containing intense sweeteners - a risk benefit assessment.

A risk benefit assessment in Norway on the intake of added sugar, intense sweeteners and benzoic acid from beverages, and the influence of changing from sugar sweetened to diet beverages was performed. National dietary surveys were used in the exposure assessment, and the content of added sugar and food additives were calculated based on actual contents used in beverages and sales volumes provided by the manufactures. The daily intake of sugar, intense sweeteners and benzoic acid were estimated for children (1- to 13-years-old) and adults according to the current intake level and a substitution scenario where it was assumed that all consumed beverages contained intense sweeteners. The change from sugar sweetened to diet beverages reduced the total intake of added sugar for all age groups but especially for adolescent. This change did not result in intake of intense sweeteners from beverages above the respective ADIs. However, the intake of acesulfame K approached ADI for small children and the total intake of benzoic acid was increased to above ADI for most age groups. The highest intake of benzoic acid was observed for 1- to 2-year-old children, and benzoic acid intake in Norwegian children is therefore considered to be of special concern.

Accuracy of a quantitative food frequency questionnaire applied in elderly Norwegian women.

The accuracy (reproducibility and relative validity) of a self-administered quantitative food frequency questionnaire including 180 food items was evaluated. A total of 38 elderly women kept multiple weighed diet records for a total of 14 days over a 6-week period and filled in the questionnaire both before and after this period. Spearman rank correlations between the nutrient intakes from the two questionnaires varied from 0.43 for carbohydrate to 0.88 for energy percentage from alcohol. The median correlation was 0.70. Seven women whose recorded average energy intake was less than 1.17 times their measured basal metabolic rate were excluded from the analysis comparing the questionnaire and the diet records. The first questionnaire gave on the average 10% higher nutrient median values than the records, while the second questionnaire did not in general produce higher values. Unadjusted correlation coefficients comparing intakes measured by the two methods ranged from 0.31 for vitamin C to 0.79 for energy percentage from carbohydrate, the median coefficient being 0.61. On the average 77% of the subjects were classified in the same (+/- 1) quintile in the first food frequency questionnaire and the diet records. The present study indicates that the self-administered quantitative food frequency questionnaire is useful for measuring individual or group intakes for a variety of nutrients.