Khaberni - The "Coplant" study, which is the largest of its kind on vegetarian nutrition in the German-speaking area, has entered a new phase that includes children, supervised by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, after its launch last year.
In this phase, researchers aim to expand their study to include minors, striving to understand the impact of family dietary patterns on children's eating habits, known in this phase as (Children/Family). Data is collected at the Max Rubner Institute in Karlsruhe and the German Institute for Risk Evaluation in Berlin.
Both institutes plan to conduct research on up to 200 families. Children will undergo measurements of weight, height, blood pressure, and heart rate, but unlike the adults involved in the study since last year, no biological samples such as blood or stool will be taken. A large number of questions will be asked to children and their parents about family eating habits and nutritional knowledge.
The experts hope this will help determine whether children follow the same diet as their parents, or identify the social and psychological factors that influence dietary patterns, food consumption and eating behaviors among children and adolescents of different age groups.
Lydia Scheidlko, the project director said, "It will be particularly interesting if we observed children changing their eating behavior and understanding their motivations behind it."
The study includes, for example, 11-year-old Rebecca from Karlsruhe, who completed the participation procedures by recording her various measurements and filling out questionnaires. Her mother follows a vegetarian diet, while Rebecca also eats meat, and said: "There are dishes I just can't do without, like pasta with meat sauce."
The type of diet of the children participating, whether strictly vegetarian, mixed, or otherwise, is not a central importance in the study, as the research includes all dietary patterns "and how they are applied in everyday life," according to researchers.
The study also has a social dimension, as experts seek to understand how families handle fruits, vegetables, and vegetarian diets, and the impact on children and adolescents.
All children and teenagers aged between 2 and 17 years are eligible to participate in the study, provided that one of their parents is also participating in the main "Coplant" study, and the results will take some time as more children are still to be found, Scheidlko said: "After that, we will begin the analysis in earnest," and the main study "Coplant" was launched in June of last year under the supervision of the German Institute for Risk Assessment.
The study, which is also conducted in seven other institutions in Germany and Austria, is expected to include up to 6,000 participants aged between 18 and 69 years, divided according to their diet into groups such as strict vegetarians (without animal products), vegetarians (without meat and fish, but with milk and eggs, for example), pescatarians (fish without meat), or mixed-diet. Partial results are planned to be published periodically.
