The study found that 12-month-old British Pakistani children were found to consume more chips, sugary drinks and processed baby meals than their white counterparts.
According to the Born in Bradford 1000 Study, which monitored more than 1,250 young children in the city, British Pakistani babies also eat more fruit and less processed meat.
However, Pinki Sahota, professor of nutrition & childhood obesity at Leeds Beckett University who led the study, said both groups were found to have worryingly poor diets. The academic said this was likely to be due to a majority of low-income families living in Bradford, as well as a lack of education.
‘Our study found that dietary intake during infancy and early toddlerhood is associated with ethnicity, suggesting the importance of early and culturally-adapted interventions aimed at establishing healthy eating behaviours,’ she added.
It claims to be one of the first studies to examine ethnic differences in diets, and the researchers hope it will allow healthy-eating messages to be more tailored to different backgrounds.
Professor Sahota stressed the importance of intervening as early as possible in a toddler’s life, and of raising awareness on the importance of healthy eating among parents.
Parents were asked to complete a food frequency questionnaire when their child was aged between 12 and 18 months to assess differences in diets. The findings at 12 months were found to persist by the age of 18 months.
Professor Sahota added, ‘Childhood obesity is a growing problem internationally and in the UK, over a fifth of children starting school are overweight or obese.’
‘The prevalence of obesity is significantly higher in children of South Asian origin in the UK compared to white British children and the former are also at greater risk of obesity-related conditions such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension.’
