National Children's Food Survey II (NCFS II)

National Children's Food Consumption Survey II

The overall objective of this project is to establish for the Republic of Ireland (ROI) a nationally representative database of food consumption in children aged 5-12 years to update 2003-04 data for this group and to complement more recent data on preschool children and adults. The survey will be comparable with existing survey data in ROI and with surveys in UK (GB & NI). The ROI database will be designed to address both nutrition and food safety issues of relevance to the development and implementation of public health policy, food safety risk assessment and to the needs of the food industry. In addition to detailed data on food consumption, data will be also be collected on body weight, lifestyle, including physical activity, determinants of food choice, urine, and composition of foods and food recipes. Food composition databases will be updated and restructured to facilitate future analyses of food ingredients, packaging materials, residues, contaminants, allergens, bioactives and microorganisms. Urine samples will be stored to facilitate future analyses nutrition and metabolic indicators, markers of food intake and for estimating exposure to food chemicals. Data will be analysed to estimate intakes of foods and nutrients and compliance with dietary recommendations, to establish the prevalence of overweight and obesity, to investigate physical activity patterns and compliance with guidelines, to identify psychological, social and attitudinal determinants of food choice and eating behaviour. Salt intake will be estimated from urine excretion. Findings will be disseminated to relevant stakeholders. The project will be carried out by a multi-disciplinary research team with strong linkages to related on-going research in food and health sciences.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Body Weight; Dietary Habits; Life Style

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 600

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Ireland
  • Cork, Ireland, 0000
    • University College Cork

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 5 years to 12 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: N/A
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Primary school children living in Ireland; 5-12y; representative of age, gender, social class, location of residence

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Attending primary school

Exclusion Criteria:

-

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
5-12y

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Food and nutrient intake of Irish children (5-12y)	Participating families were asked to record detailed information on the amount and type of all foods, drinks and nutritional supplements consumed by the child over four consecutive days (including one weekend day) in a food diary. Participants were provided with digital food scales and asked to weigh as many foods as possible, including leftovers. Where foods were not weighed, researchers used age-appropriate photographic food atlases, standard portion sizes and household measures at subsequent visits to help with quantifying the amount of food consumed. Participants were encouraged to keep food packaging to provide further detail on the foods consumed. Nutrient intakes were estimated from food intakes using tables of food composition.	Jan 2017-Dec 2019
Anthropometry measurements of Irish children (5-12y)	Physical measurements (height, weight, % body fat, and waist and hip circumference) of the children were made.	Jan 2017-Dec 2019
Health and Lifestyle Characteristics of Irish children (5-12y)	Participants and parents/guardians completed a questionnaire on general health and lifestyle.	Jan 2017-Dec 2019
Food Choice Behaviour of Irish children (5-12y)	Participants and parents/guardians completed questionnaires on determinants of food choice and eating behaviours for the child.	Jan 2017-Dec 2019
Physical Activity Measurements of Irish children (5-8y)	Physical activity was estimated using the validated Child Physical Activity Questionnaire (C-PAQ) in 5-8 year olds.	Jan 2017-Dec 2019
Physical Activity Measurements of Irish children (9-12y)	Physical activity was estimated using the the Youth Physical Activity Questionnaire (Y-PAQ) in 9-12 year olds.	Jan 2017-Dec 2019
Urine sample collection and analysis of Irish children (5-12y)	A single first-void morning urine sample was also collected from children during the recording period to estimate sodium and potassium intake.	Jan 2017-Dec 2019

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University College Cork
• Collaborators: University College Dublin; Dublin Institute of Technology

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 1, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 31, 2018
• Study Completion (Actual): June 1, 2018

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 15, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 25, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): February 27, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 5, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 3, 2020
• Last Verified: November 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Body Weight
• Other Study ID Numbers: 15 F 673

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No