Complementary and young child feeding (CYCF) - impact on short and long term development and health, bagground information I, interviewguide (18 months), 2008-2009

Most babies are introduced to solid foods at the age of four to six months. At twelve to eighteen months the toddler will be eating the same food as the rest of the family. The period from six months to three years are characterized by rapid growth and development of the brain. It is believed that within the first years of the baby’s life, several periods occur in which the genes and metabolism may be particularly sensitive to the influences of the diet. If the diet is not optimal at this particular state it can have long-term effects on the growth and health of the child. This is called the thrifty phenotype hypothesis. The type and amount of food that the children consume in their early childhood are important for the growth and health both in the present and in the future. However, more extensive knowledge on the connection between young children’s diet and their growth and health later in life is still needed. Early prevention of obesity is important since the long-term effects of the existing obesity treatment are limited. The purpose of the SKOT cohort study is to contribute with new and important knowledge by identifying contributing factors to obesity in children. This part of the study is based on a questionnaire developed by DTU food National Food Institute and Department of Human Nutrition. The questions in the survey are primarily based on the questionnaire used by DTU food National Food Institute in the nationwide survey “Dietary Habits of the Danish Population”. This part of the study was conducted when the children were eighteen months old.

多数婴儿会在4至6月龄时引入固体食物，至12至18月龄时，学步幼儿已可与家庭成员食用同款食物。6月龄至3岁这一阶段，婴儿会经历大脑的快速生长与发育。学界普遍认为，在婴儿出生后的最初数年中，存在若干时期，此时其基因与代谢对膳食影响的敏感性尤为显著。若此阶段膳食结构并非最优，可能会对儿童的生长与健康产生长期影响，这一理论被称为节俭表型假说（thrifty phenotype hypothesis）。幼儿童年早期摄入的食物种类与摄入量，对其当下及未来的生长与健康均至关重要。然而，目前仍需更多深入研究，以阐明幼儿膳食与其后半生生长及健康之间的关联。早期肥胖预防尤为关键，因为当前现有肥胖治疗手段的长期效果十分有限。SKOT队列研究（SKOT cohort study）的核心目标，是通过识别儿童肥胖的相关致病因素，为相关领域提供全新且具有重要价值的研究结论。本研究的此分支基于DTU食品与国家食品研究所（DTU Food National Food Institute）与人类营养学系开发的调查问卷。本次调查问卷的题目主要参考了DTU食品与国家食品研究所于全国性调查"Dietary Habits of the Danish Population"中所使用的问卷框架。本研究分支的调研工作于幼儿18月龄时开展。