Evaluation of the Proximity of Singaporean Children’s Dietary Habits to Food-Based Dietary Guidelines

Dietary habits in children may not only impact on current health status but could also shape future, lifelong dietary choices. Dietary intake data in Singaporean children are limited. The current study aimed to use existing data to consider the overall diet quality of Singaporean children. Existing dietary data (n=561 children aged 6-12 years) from duplicate 24-h recalls were assessed for diet quality using an index based on the Singaporean Health Promotion Board dietary guidelines. Total diet quality scores were calculated from ten different components (frequencies of rice and alternatives, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, meat and alternatives, dairy and alternatives, total fat, saturated fat, sodium and added sugars). The association with demographic factors was considered by one-way MANOVA tests, with Bonferroni post-hoc analyses. Median (interquartile range) total diet quality scores were 65.4 (57.1-73.0). Median scores for whole grains (0.0, 0.0-33.4), fruits (24.1, 0.0-65.3), vegetables (36.5, 10.4-89.8) and sodium (58.4, 0.0-100.0) intake were frequently sub-optimal. Children of Malay ethnic origin had statistically lower total diet quality scores ((55.3, 47.5-60.3) vs (65.4 (57.1, 73.0); P<0.001). These findings tend to agree with national nutrition survey data for Singaporean adults and highlight the need for continuing efforts to improve dietary intake in young Singaporeans and for longitudinal dietary monitoring in this group.