Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Diet and Nutrition Survey of Infants and Young Children (DNSIYC) was commissioned by the Department of Health (DH) and Food Standards Agency (FSA). The programme was carried out by a consortium of four organisations: Medical Research Council (MRC) Human Nutrition Research, based in Cambridge, NatCen Social Research, based in London, MRC Epidemiology Unit, based in Cambridge and the Human Nutrition Research Centre at Newcastle University. Fieldwork in Northern Ireland was carried out by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). The aims of the DNSIYC were to: provide detailed, quantitative information on the food and nutrient intakes, sources of nutrients, and nutritional status of a representative sample of infants and young children aged 4 to 18 months from the UK population, as a basis for developing government policy and measuring progress towards other government objectivesprovide detailed, quantitative information on breast milk and breast milk substitutes consumeddescribe the characteristics of participants with intakes and/or status of specific nutrients that are above and below national reference values, and evaluate the diet of this population compared to current national recommendationsproduce a database of food consumption to provide the basis for the calculation of likely dietary intakes of natural toxicants, contaminants, additives and other food chemicals for risk assessmentprovide length (height), weight and other body measurements and examine their relationship with dietary intake and status, and health and social factors examine the extent to which feeding practices adopted by carers differ from national policy for infant health provide some information on the dietary habits of the mother (and other key family members) and link this to the nutrient intakes and nutritional status of this population group carry out stable isotopically-labelled water assessment in sub-samples of the survey group in order to estimate breast milk intake and body composition in children consuming any breast milk, as well as fluid intake and body composition in non-breastfed childrenmeasure blood indices that give evidence of nutritional status and relate these to dietary, physiological and social dataThis study can be used alongside data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (available from the UK Data Service under GN 33275), which covers adults and children of all ages from 18 months, to provide a fuller picture of the diet, health and food safety of the nation. October 2013: temporary embargo ended and new edition released For the second edition (October 2013), new versions of the day-level, food-level and person-level dietary data files were deposited. The person-level dietary file was corrected because food group values had been found to be totals from the first day, and not the mean value. It was also found that in some circumstances, water used to make up foods and formulas had not been assigned to the relevant food group (food or formula). This was corrected, which meant that the total consumption of the food groups ‘COMMERCIALTODDLERSFOODSWATER’ and ‘INFANTFORMULAWATER’ were then reduced to zero; these variables have therefore been removed from both the person-level file and the daily food groups file. The documentation variable listing has been amended accordingly. A single coding error that caused changes to the food, person-level and day-level foods has also been corrected. The user guide has also been updated.

Main Topics:

A CAPI interview was completed with the carer who was most involved with feeding the sampled infant. The interview covered feeding, development, medicines and supplements, childcare and general health. The smoking, drinking and eating habits of the carer were also collected. Physical measurements were taken of the infant and mother (maternal height and weight; child length, weight and head circumference; and skinfold thickness). Dietary data were also obtained using a four day food diary (not weighed) for infants and children aged 4-18 months and a breast milk diary. On successful completion of the interview stage, the parent was invited to attend a local clinic where additional child and maternal anthropometric measurements and child blood samples were taken. In addition, parents were asked to take part in a stable isotope dose protocol in order to measure the child’s body composition, fluid intake and breast milk intake (if breastfed) through a urine collection protocol over 5 or 14 days.

Multi-stage stratified random sample

Face-to-face interview

Clinical measurements

Diaries

Physical measurements