Plant-based nutrition in families
The COPLANT sub cohort "kids/family" aimed to investigate eating habits in families accordingly, the module determine whether children follow the same diet (vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, omnivorous) as their parents. In addition, factors in the family environment that play a role in the nutrition, food consumption and eating behavior of children will be identified. This sub cohort of the COPLANT study is conducted at the Max Rubner Institute (MRIshort forMax Rubner Institute) and the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment).
COPLANT "kids/family" at a glance
Children and adolescents aged between 2 and 17 years can participate. A requirement for participation in the “kids/family” sub cohort is that at least one parent takes part in the COPLANT main study and lives in the same household as the child. Several children from one family can participate.
The adults initially take part in the baseline examination of the COPLANT main study. Adults who would also like to participate in the COPLANT "kids/family" sub cohort together with their child or children will receive further information on the procedure before being included in the COPLANT "kids/family" sub cohort. The consent of the legal guardians is required for the child's participation in the study.
The mother- or father-child pairs visit the study centers at BfR in Berlin or at MRI in Karlsruhe for a single appointment. Various data about the child are collected using different methods. The appointment takes about three hours in total.
The appointment at the study centre includes data collection using computer-based questionnaires and the assessment of body measurements and clinical parameters such as blood pressure and pulse.
Older children and adolescents are asked to complete age-specific questionnaires about their diet, food consumption and eating behavior.. For younger children, the mother or father complete the questionnaires. . The parent also fills out questionnaires about their children with regard to nutrition, health and intake of supplements, as well as about family eating routines and parenting behavior.
The examination of children and adolescents includes the following measurements:
- Body height
- Body weight
- Blood pressure
- Pulse
- Body composition