Proper nutrition is essential when acquiring healthy eating habits that favor optimal growth and development, as well as having an impact on nutritional behavior in the short, medium and long term.  

These intake patterns begin to be established from early childhood, consolidate before the end of the first decade and persist largely in adulthood.  

Although during the first stage of childhood, the health professional (pediatrician, pediatric nurse, dietitian-nutritionist, pharmacist) has a considerable influence, it decreases as the child grows. 

It is then that many families decide to look for a new source of information, with the risk that many of the alternative routes do not have enough experience or knowledge, to issue recommendations based on scientific evidence. 

In fact, currently in Spain, there are no studies in which are the main sources that families use to obtain information on the best food for their children. 

The largest study on childhood nutrition

EsNuPI has been carried out during 2019 and its main objective is to know the patterns of eating and habits of physical activity and sedentary lifestyle in children. 

1,514 children, (50% boys and 50% girls), with ages between 1 and 9 years have participated in this research. 

Both the results and their interpretation will be made public through different scientific publications in specialized journals in the coming months.

Likewise, changes in eating patterns have been accompanied by a decrease in physical activity and an increase in inactivity, especially linked to the use of screens, as the main source of passive leisure. To date, EsNuPI is the first study of these characteristics that is carried out in the Spanish child population, which through a national representative survey has evaluated the intake of the main nutrients and food groups. 

In addition, the availability of adapted foods, with modification of their nutritional profile, can constitute a window of opportunity to improve the quality of the diet in preschool and school-age children.

This research has been promoted by the Spanish Nutrition Foundation (FEN) and by the Ibero-American Nutrition Foundation (FINUT)

It is the most recent study, with the most complete design and methodology of those carried out in the Spanish child population. EsNuPi will allow us to better understand the nutritional reality of Spanish children, identifying different eating patterns and lifestyle, with the possibility of reviewing and updating current recommendations regarding the growth and development of children, as well as prevention of chronic diseases in adult life, said the president of the Ibero-American Nutrition Foundation, Ángel Gil.

For his part, for the president of the Spanish Nutrition Foundation and professor at the CEU San Pablo University, Gregorio Varela Moreiras, “the greatest benefit of the EsNuPi Study is the knowledge that will be obtained from dietary intake and physical activity in the child population Spanish. This information will allow assessing the quality of the diet, as well as identifying dietary and physical activity behaviors that are associated with a healthier lifestyle pattern.

EsNuPI has been conceptualized as the most current study and with the most complete methodology in recent years, carried out in the Spanish child population of this age range.