Dietary patterns and associated factors among children one to six years of age in a city in southern Brazil

This study aimed to describe dietary patterns and to investigate associations with demographic and socioeconomic factors among children one to six years of age in the city of Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. Pearson correlation was used to group different foods. Dietary patterns were constructed using principal components analysis (PCA). Associations were established with the Kruskal Wallis test (alpha = 0.05). The study evaluated 667 children. Five dietary patterns were identified: "vegetables", "traditional" (bread, butter/margarine, rice/pasta, coffee, sugar), "sweets and sausages", "snacks" (dairy products, chocolate, cookies, and juice), and "fruits". Children of mothers with more schooling and higher income showed greater adherence to "vegetables" and "fruits". The "traditional" pattern was more common in children of mothers with less education and lower family income. The "vegetables" and "traditional" patterns showed greater variance. Families' socioeconomic status played a key role in determining children's dietary patterns.