The association between adherence to the New Nordic Diet and diet quality

Helga Birgit Bjørnarå; Nina Cecilie Øverby; Tonje Holte Stea; Monica Klungland Torstveit; Elisabet Rudjord Hillesund; Lene Frost Andersen; Sveinung Berntsen; Elling Bere

doi:10.3402/fnr.v60.31017

Helga Birgit Bjørnarå University of Agder
Nina Cecilie Øverby University of Agder
Tonje Holte Stea University of Agder
Monica Klungland Torstveit University og Agder
Elisabet Rudjord Hillesund University of Agder
Lene Frost Andersen University of Oslo
Sveinung Berntsen University of Agder
Elling Bere University of Agder

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3402/fnr.v60.31017

Keywords: New Nordic Diet, Diet score, Norwegian food-based guidelines, Dietary intake, Nutrient intake

Abstract

Background: Previous studies have reported a positive association between scoring on healthy Nordic diet scales and the intake of healthy foods and nutrients, and also with higher intake of meat, sweets, cakes, and energy in general. These studies have used the same food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) responses for constructing the diet score as for calculating intakes of foods and nutrients. Thus, it is not clear whether the coexistence of healthy and less healthy dietary aspects among adherers to Nordic diets would occur even though separate methods were applied for exploring these relations.

Objective: To assess the association between adherence to the New Nordic Diet (NND), derived from an FFQ, and diet quality, determined from two 24-h dietary recall interviews.

Design: In total, 65 parents of toddlers in Southern Norway answered the NND FFQ and two 24-h dietary recall interviews. NND adherence was determined from the FFQ and categorized into low, medium, and high adherence. The two 24-h recalls provided data for the intake of specific foods and nutrients, selected on the basis of the Norwegian food-based guidelines as an indicator of a healthy diet. The Kruskal–Wallis test was used for assessing differences in food and nutrient intake across NND groups.

Results: High NND adherence derived from FFQ was associated with a high intake of fruits (p=0.004) and fiber (p=0.02), and a low intake of meat (p=0.004) and margarines (p=0.05), derived from recalls. A larger proportion of high NND adherers (68%) complied with the national dietary recommendation targeting meat intake compared with low NND adherers (29%) (p=0.04).

Conclusion: The present study showed that higher NND adherence measured with FFQ was associated with a higher intake of selected healthy foods and nutrients, measured with recalls. However, a higher intake of meat, sweets, and energy, as earlier reported, was not observed.

Keywords: New Nordic Diet; diet score; Norwegian food-based guidelines; dietary intake; nutrient intake

(Published: 1 June 2016)

Citation: Food & Nutrition Research 2016, 60: 31017 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/fnr.v60.31017