Public Expressions of Trust and Distrust in Governmental Dietary Advice in Sweden.

We examine public trust and distrust in governmental food and nutrition authorities, through analyzing 727 letters sent electronically to the Swedish National Food Agency by lay people. Using thematic analysis, four themes were developed, defining public expressions of trust and distrust in official dietary advice. Trust was expressed as (a) seeking to confirm and clarify dietary advice or (b) seeking official arbitration between competing dietary advice. Distrust was expressed as (c) questioning and scrutinizing dietary advice or (d) protesting and resisting dietary advice. Notably, expressions of distrust employed discursive practices that both mirrored authoritative discourses and subverted official advice, by appealing to scientific language and "alternative" evidence. All letters positioned the agency as the ultimate authority on healthy eating; notwithstanding whether the agency's advice was to be followed or resisted. Thus, the letters revealed how the same authoritative discourses can simultaneously be a site of public trust and distrust.

Perceived child eating behaviours and maternal migrant background.

The Child Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) is a well-established instrument in the study of obesity-related eating behaviours among children. However, research using the CEBQ in multicultural samples is limited. This study aims to identify and examine differences in child eating behaviours as reported by Swedish-born and non-Swedish-born mothers living in Sweden. Mothers (n = 1310, 74 countries of origin, mean age 36.5 years, 63.6% with higher education, 29.2% with overweight or obesity) of children aged 3-8 years (mean age 4.8 years, 18.1% with overweight or obesity) completed the CEBQ. Responses were analysed using CEBQ subscales Food Responsiveness, Emotional Overeating, Enjoyment of Food, and Desire to Drink, clustering into Food Approach, and subscales Satiety Responsiveness, Slowness in Eating, Emotional Undereating, and Food Fussiness, clustering into Food Avoidance. Data were compared across seven regional groups, divided by maternal place of birth: (1) Sweden (n = 941), (2) Nordic and Western Europe (n = 68), (3) Eastern and Southern Europe (n = 97), (4) the Middle East and North Africa (n = 110), (5) East, South and Southeast Asia (n = 52), (6) Sub-Saharan Africa (n = 16), and (7) Central and South America (n = 26). Crude, partly and fully adjusted linear regression models controlled for child's age, gender and weight status, and mother's education, weight status and concern about child weight. The moderation effect of maternal concern about child weight was examined through interaction analyses. Results showed that while Food Approach and Food Avoidance behaviours were associated with maternal migrant background, associations for Food Fussiness were limited. Notably, mothers born in the Middle East and North Africa reported higher frequencies of both Food Approach (except for Enjoyment of Food) and Food Avoidance. The study highlights the importance of examining how regionally-specific maternal migrant background affects mothers' perceptions of child eating behaviours.

The contribution of school meals to energy and nutrient intake of Swedish children in relation to dietary guidelines.

BACKGROUND: In Sweden, school meals are served free of charge and Swedish law states that school meals must be nutritious. Nevertheless, data on children's energy and nutrient intake from school meals are scarce. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to describe the contribution of school meals to Swedish children's nutrient and energy intake during weekdays and compare this to the reference values based on the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations (NNR), which have been adopted as the official Swedish recommendations. DESIGN: A cross-sectional food consumption survey was performed on 1,840 Swedish children attending Grade 2 (mean age 8.6) and Grade 5 (mean age 11.7). The children's nutrient and energy intake was compared to the reference values based on the NNR. RESULTS: The mean intake from school meals of energy, carbohydrates, dietary fiber, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), and vitamins D and E did not reach the reference values and the intake of saturated fatty acids (SFA) and sodium exceeded the reference values in both age groups (significant differences, all p≤0.001). Additionally, the pupils in Grade 5 did not reach the reference values for folate, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, selenium, and zinc (significant differences, all p≤0.001). Standardized for energy, dietary fiber, PUFA, and vitamins D and E did not reach the reference values, whereas the reference values for SFA and sodium were exceeded in both age groups (significant differences, all p≤0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The study pointed to some central nutrients in need of improvement as regards school meals in Sweden, namely the quality of fat, dietary fiber, sodium, vitamin D, and iron. Some of these results may be attributed to the children not reporting eating the recommended number of calories, the children omitting some components of the meal, or underreporting, as a consequence of which the reference values for several nutrients were not met.