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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutritional Epidemiology
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1388233

Parent-child skin carotenoid level and vegetable intake relationships in users of children's cafeterias in Japan

Provisionally accepted
Kayo Kurotani Kayo Kurotani 1*Kazunori Ohkawara Kazunori Ohkawara 2Hidemi Takimoto Hidemi Takimoto 3
  • 1 Showa Women's University, Setagaya, Japan
  • 2 The University of Electro-Communications, Chofu, Tōkyō, Japan
  • 3 National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition, Ibaraki, Ôsaka, Japan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Studies on the relationship between parental and child dietary intakes are limited in Asian populations. Here, we examined parent-child relationships in skin carotenoid levels and vegetable intake in a Japanese community. Methods: The study participants were 58 children aged 6-15 years and 39 of their guardians (parents) using children's cafeterias. Skin carotenoid levels were measured using the Veggie Meter®, and the number of vegetable dishes (equivalent to a serving of 70 g) was evaluated using a self-administered questionnaire. Results: The mean (standard deviation; SD) skin carotenoid levels were 366.8 (74.0) in children and 315.0 (101.4) in parents. The partial correlation coefficient between parents' and children's skin carotenoid levels, adjusting for cafeteria, sex, parental dietary supplement use, and household financial status, was 0.38 (P = 0.02); after adjustment for smoking status and BMI, the positive correlation was attenuated (r = 0.25, P = 0.14). A positive correlation was observed between parents' and children's vegetable dish intake (r = 0.30, P = 0.02). Conclusion: This cross-sectional study identified a positive correlation between parent-child intake of vegetable dishes, accounting for potential confounders. However, the positive correlation observed between parent-child skin carotenoid levels may have been attenuated by internal factors such as smoking and obesity.

    Keywords: skin carotenoid, pressure-mediated reflection spectroscopy, Familial resemblance, children's cafeteria, Vegetable intake, japanese

    Received: 19 Feb 2024; Accepted: 01 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Kurotani, Ohkawara and Takimoto. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Kayo Kurotani, Showa Women's University, Setagaya, Japan

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.