Epidemiology: Open Access
Open Access

Abstract

Based on data from the 2010–2011 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, we investigated correlations
between micronutrients in the diet of family members and the possible risk factors for children and adolescents consuming
an inadequate diet. We examined two-generation households with children aged 2–18 years. The quality of the family diet
with regard to the following nine nutrients was assessed based on the Index of Nutritional Quality. Correlations between
quality of diet and selected variables were analyzed using the Statistical Analysis for Genetic Epidemiology software, and those
between diet quality and potential risk factors for poor diet in offspring were analyzed using multinomial logistic regression.
Overall, calcium was the most commonly under-consumed micronutrient. More than half of sons and daughters showed
insufficient vitamin A, vitamin C, and iron intake, and both mothers and fathers showed insufficiency with respect to vitamin
A, vitamin B2, and vitamin C. The correlation between a poor diet in parents and that in offspring was 0.17 (p<0.0001),
and this correlation coefficient was higher between mothers and offspring than between fathers and offspring. Additionally,
eating breakfast provided a significant protective effect against the risk of poor nutrition in offspring, even after adjusting for
covariates. Our results add to evidence indicating that children should be encouraged to eat breakfast to improve the quality
of their diet.

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