Diet quality and diet costs in German children and adolescents

We examined the association between diet costs and diet quality in a sample of children and adolescents using data from the ongoing longitudinal (open cohort) DONALD (Dortmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed) study. Children and adolescents aged 4–18 years (255 boys and 239 girls) provided 1100 yearly collected 3-day weighted dietary records. Linear mixed (effects) models were used to analyze the association between diet costs (€/day, estimated using retail food prices) and the Nutrient Quality Index (NQI) and the Healthy Nutrition Score for Kids and Youth (HuSKY). Analysis were stratified for low-quality records (score median). No significant association was found in the low-quality records, whereas in the high-quality records the association was significantly positive for both scores (HuSKY P=0.016, NQI P<0.0001). In conclusion, a substantial part of our sample could increase their diet quality without a noteworthy increase of expenditure.